I Will Still Love You Tomorrow
by yaoikaylor
Summary: AU. BROLIN. MERTHUR. REINCARNATION. CHARACTER DEATHS. A 17 year-old Bradley moves from Florida to North Carolina with his 2 moms and no anxiety at all. Usually, teens have trouble about moving but Bradley's oddly looking forward to it. They move into the Pendragon's old Victorian mansion which carries the history of a mass family murder/suicide.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** I Will Still Love You Tomorrow

**Disclaimed: **Sadly, I don't own Merlin.

**Warning:** AU, BROLIN, MERTHUR, VIOLENCE, and CHARACTERS DEATH

**Special Thanks to:** scheiGuy for being the AWESOME beta!

**A/N:** I have thinking about writing this story for a while. It's just that I have busy with schools and work that I didn't get a chance to write it. But now I did! :D Also, I switch last names of the characters since it's not allow to write about the actor or the actress so therefore:

Bradley James = Bradley Morgan

Colin Morgan = Colin James

Katie McGrath = Katie Coulby

Angel Coulby = Angel McGrath

As the others characters come along, they will probably have the different last name but same first name :D Sorry for any confusion.

* * *

Chapter 1

"_...Through every breath I take, in each lifetime _

_I will keep on searching for you._

_Even if you __are reborn as a flower in an open field,_

_I promise I will not fail to find you..."_

July 23, 2012

Wilmington, North Carolina

The open field of lush, green grass stretches out for miles before another house finds its way into sight. If there are no fields, then there is either a bustling patch of woods or a serene lake to relax by. Children and teenagers ride their bikes around the small town in their regular jeans and t-shirt, screaming each other's names with laughter lacing each hoarse breath.

A certain blond-haired teenage boy at the age of seventeen, named Bradley Morgan, stared out the window of their car as his family drove by downtown. Usually a normal teenager would throw a tantrum about moving to another place when graduation is just one year away. But oddly, Bradley doesn't feel that way. When his birth mother, Carol, announced that her company was transferring her to Wilmington, North Carolina, Bradley and his other mother, Sarah, were ready to jump aboard with her. Sure, he was going to miss all his friends dearly, but for some reason he feel that he was meant to go to North Carolina, something was pulling and pulling him.

When summer arrived, Carol came to North Carolina first to find a house for them to settle down in. Her budget wasn't limitless but she was able to find a cheap and old three story Victorian mansion in Wilmington; the mansion was of Scottish-Baronial style, which looks a lot like a medieval castle. A really rich man named Uther Pendragon built it in 1887.

At first both Bradley and Sarah weren't too sure about buying the Pendragon Mansion since it came with a horrid history: a mass family murder/suicide took place inside the mansion during the year 1924. But they were short on money, and with Bradley starting school soon, they were limited on options. Creepy, old, possibly-haunted mansion it is.

Which brings us back to the present: Sarah and Bradley have been driving from Florida to North Carolina – an eleven-hour drive. Bradley sighed, feeling kind of aggravated as the open field came back to sight. "When are we going to get there?" he whined like a ten year-old would.

"Patient, Bradley. Patient," Sarah replied as she looked at the map and road at the same time.

* * *

An hour later, Sarah finally drove into a dirt driveway that wrapped behind a large green grass hill to meet a large mansion surrounded by tall, ominous woods. He looked up, amazed by the sheer size of this mansion. He saw pictures but he didn't think it would be this big. He heard Sarah open the door to her side of the car and walk out before he opened his door and followed his mother's life partner down the curvy, multi-colored pebble walkway. One of the two huge entrance doors swung open and his biological mother, Carol, came out to greet them. Carol sports long blond hair, tied up in a ponytail with her thick, black-rimmed glasses covering the blue eyes that are so much like her son's, while Sarah has trimmed red hair and bright green eyes. Sarah is taller than his mother, and also leaner. Sarah always wears striped button-up shirts and jeans. Carol is half a foot shorter than Sarah and has more of a plumped-up body shape. She mostly wears dresses of any kind. Sarah and his mother have been together for as long as he can remember. His father passed away long before Bradley was born so he never met the man; Bradley only sees him in pictures.

Sarah ran to hug her life partner and kiss her on the cheek before returning to Bradley and hugging him. "So what do you think?" she asked, gesturing to the huge house.

He shrugged. "It's okay," he replied teasingly.

Carol frowned and playfully kicked her son's calf. Bradley chuckled. "Alright, alright, it's awesome!" He yelled happily. "Now, can I go choose my room?"

Carol nodded. "Of course. You have seventeen rooms to choose from."

He arched a brow, interested. "Seventeen? I thought there were only fifteen."

"Well, as I was waiting for you two to arrive, I did a little exploring around the house. Apparently there are two extra rooms: one behind a painting at the end of the hall on the second floor, another behind all the things in the attic," she explained, smiling. "You can choose whichever one you like."

Bradley nodded attentively and walked toward the inside of the house as Carol turned to her life partner and began to chatter away. As he stepped inside, breaking the threshold, he paused to register a strange sensation, like an eerie chill that went from the top of his skull straight down to the end his spine. _I'm here. I'm back _he thought unconsciously, and shook his head as he realized the second afterthought. "Back? Why did I think that?" he laughed to himself and decided to do a little exploring himself on the first floor. He was dumbfounded by the interior of the almost one hundred year-old mansion, which was still very well defined. It was Renaissance-modeled, including smooth plastered walls often in light colors, marble fireplaces with heavy gold mirrors up top, elaborate ceiling cornices, elaborate pediments over doors, frescoed ceilings, and elegant chandeliers.

When Bradley walked upstairs, somehow his heart felt heavier and heavier with each step and he didn't understand why. As he walked past each room from left to right in the large hall he didn't even bother to look at them. He walked straight to the painting by the end of the hall. The painting was just a normal picture of two anemone flowers with their stems intertwined; one, the color of blood red, and the other peach. Even though the painting was just like any other painting he'd seen before, for some reason he was drawn to this one. He looked down to the bottom-left corner of the painting where a signature was scribbled. "Merlin," he read aloud, and somehow the name sounded as if he had said it many times before…the sound of it comfortably familiar. He reached a hand up and touched it lightly before gently removing it from the wall to find the gunmetal bolted door, the very same his mother was talking about, with evidence, imprints, of multiple locks that used to be there. He grabbed the knob and twisted it slowly. The door opened to reveal a dark stairwell that twisted about and went up to meet another gunmetal bolted door. He climbed up until he reached the second door and opened it. He was expecting something to be there, or to happen, but the room was completely and totally empty.

The room was large with two casement windows that were a few feet apart from each other. There were marks on the wall, tracing where things like a wardrobe, a bookshelf, a bed and a desk used to be located.

He walked toward one of the windows and could see the large glass greenhouse that was attached to the mansion and the, what formerly was, maze. He unlocked the window and opened it. A soft breeze swooshed into the room, and as he breathed in the air he really felt like he had been here before. His eyes widened when he saw someone standing inside the overgrown bush of a maze. He could tell the figure was male but that was it. As he tried to lean over the window for a better look a knock from behind made him jump. He turned around to find a pretty chocolate-colored woman around his age standing by the door. When he turned back to look at the maze the figure was gone.

Bradley gulped and turned back to her. "Hi, I'm Angel McGrath," she introduced herself. He noticed that she had a very strong English accent. She had perfect long, wavy dark hair and beautiful dark eyes. She was wearing a regular navy blue V-neck shirt, a white pair of shorts, and a pair of sneakers. "I live down the road, a few miles from here – of course, since this is the countryside. My parents and I have been helping your mother move in. She talked a lot about you so I thought I should introduce myself." A wide smile graced her features.

He felt like an idiot as he realized that he had been gawking at her. He couldn't help it whenever a pretty girl came in front of him. He grinned. "Well, nice to meet you, Angel. I'm Bradley Morgan, if you haven't heard it from my mom." He hoped his mother hadn't told Angel of any embarrassing stories from his childhood.

She smiled sweetly to him and nodded. "I know you will probably be unpacking for the next few days, but if you would like, whenever you are ready I will show around Wilmington."

"Sure, I would love that," he answered.

Slowly, she walked into the room. "You know I was pretty surprised when your mum bought this house."

He looked at her curiously. "Why do you say that?"

"Haven't you heard? There was a mass murder here."

"But that was nearly a hundred years ago."

"Exactly why it should be haunted, don't you think?"

He laughed. "Maybe…but I don't believe in such things as ghosts."

She grinned, cheekily. "You shouldn't taunt them, you know."

"I'm not. I'm just stating what I don't believe."

"You want a bet?"

Bradley stood there, surprised by her sudden challenge. "How much?"

"Twenty dollars. If you don't see anything strange in this place within the next twenty-four hours, I will give you twenty dollars. But if you lose, you will have to pay me double," she said.

He moved forward with his chin raised up, high and mighty, arms crossed. "Deal." They shook on it.

Then his biological mother came in. "So, did you choose a room yet?"

He grinned. "Yeah. This one."

* * *

Bradley was laying on his camping futon, placed in most faraway corner of his room behind the painting, reading an article about the mansion on his laptop. Their furniture from Florida won't be arriving until tomorrow afternoon, which included his luxuriously comfortable bed.

All day he had been talking to this Angel girl while unpacking their books, cooking utensils and clothes until she left an hour ago. She had been telling him about the house: how she saw a woman ghost standing by the attic window one time when she was in middle school, and another time a few years later. Bradley wasn't buying these supernatural stories, but nonetheless it was interesting to hear about.

After she left Bradley decided to do some web searching of the place. The first article he read was about the Pendragon family. The Pendragons actually came from high nobility. Brutus Pendragon was a genuine English duke and it's rumored that he was somehow related to the royal family at that time. He had three sons named Agravain, Uther, and Alymere and one illegitimate daughter name Morgana. Brutus and Agravain were brutally murdered in a dark alley in London during 1884. The murder case went cold after a few months with no new evidence. Uther then inherited all his father's money from his death while Alymere inherited all his father's land and mansions. A year later, Uther moved to the United States with his mother, Katrina, and sister Morgana, while Alymere remained in England with his wife and children. Uther lived in a mansion he bought in Florida, but after a visit in North Carolina he met Ygraine Le Fey – a middle-class, standard woman and American-French widow with one daughter, Morgause – he fell head over heels in love with her. When he asked the widow to marry him, she agreed – but only if he moved to North Carolina. So he did, and built the mansion for her as a wedding gift. She soon gave Uther his first and only son, Arthur.

Bradley rubbed the bottom of his chin as he wondered why Uther would kill his whole family. The man was obviously a family man, so what could possess him to do such terrible things?

The second article was about the murder that took place within the mansion. The article informed Bradley of the autopsies of who died first: those people being Arthur, then Katrina, Ygraine, and lastly Morgana. Apparently, Uther killed his son by poisoning him first, then pushed Katrina down the stairs after she called for help when she saw that her son had poisoned her grandson. When Ygraine and Morgana came, Uther was trying to strangle Morgana and as Ygraine tried to help, Uther threw her from the window before he finished Morgana off. After Morgana died, Uther hung himself with his tie in the same room he murdered Arthur and Morgana.

Ygraine's daughter, Morgause, inherited the mansion but sold it after three weeks of living in it. She said it was torture to stay in a place where her whole family died. She also claimed that every night when she went to sleep she would have nightmares of her family members coming to her dreams, trying to take her with them. Since she also inherited Uther's millions, she decided to use the money to move to another city, Charlotte. She never returned to the mansion and died at the ripe old age of eighty-nine.

The third article Bradley read was about the few families who bought the mansion before his. Each family claimed that during their stay in the house, something strange always happened to them. Some said they were possessed by an evil spirit, taking complete control of their bodies, while others claimed to hear a woman's crying through the halls, begging for forgiveness from God every night. There were even rumors about a ritual to the devil that might have taken place inside the house. The more he read into it the more insane the stories became. He started to think that these families just must be crazy themselves. He decided not to read on anymore until he landed on a page about Arthur Pendragon, who was the first victim, killed by a poison, dying in his own room at the young age of twenty-three. There wasn't much information about Arthur's life, only that he left a very rich French heiress named Elena Grunhilda Gawant at the alter a year before his death. "Humph, he must be a spoiled brat," he muttered under his breath.

"Bradley! Dinner's ready!" Sarah called from the first floor.

"Coming!" he replied and scrolled down the website to see a family picture of the Pendragon family, but the picture had recently been deleted and no longer existed. He frowned and closed his laptop before jogging downstairs to join both of his mothers in the large dining room.

They were having hamburger spaghetti and garlic bread. "Smells good." He took a seat in one of the eight chairs that accentuated the long, dark-colored wooden table.

Carol looked up from her book as Sarah came from the kitchen with a pitcher of freshly made lemonade. Bradley took a cup and poured himself a glass. "So, how do you like Angel?" Carol asked curiously, causing Bradley to cease the pouring of his cold lemonade and gawk at his mother. His other mother also gave him that same curious look.

"She's fine," he said and put the pitcher down. "Why?" He picked up his fork and began to eat his plate of spaghetti.

"Well, we thought that you two would make a wonderful couple," Sarah said.

He sighed, knowing where this conversation was going. He admits he hasn't really had a relationship with anyone so far in his teen life. It's not that Bradley's bad looking or anything – actually, he's considered to be pretty hot and down-right sexy. He did try dating a couple of girls, and even some boys, too, but he never got pass second base with any of them. He just couldn't find it in himself to make love to this girl, or that guy, who he didn't have any feelings for. His parents were worried about his dating life – which they shouldn't be since he's only seventeen. He took another bite from his plate before answering, "She is cool but it's still too early."

Both of his mothers grunted, annoyed. "Oh, come on, Bradley. She is perfect for you!" They said in a union. "You should consider taking her on a date," Sarah finished.

He rolled his eyes. "I will think about it." With his set of tone, the mothers knew they shouldn't push it any longer or he'll get pretty upset. "I did some research on the house."

Carol scoffed. "You shouldn't bother. It's a waste of time."

"I think it's interesting, actually," said Sarah argumentatively, and finally started eating her spaghetti. Carol rolled her eyes, thinking the rumors and stories were completely absurd. "I think the devil that one of the families was talking about might have possessed Uther to kill his family."

"Why do you think that?" Bradley asked.

"Well, he was a family man. It really doesn't make any sense that he killed them so suddenly," Sarah pointed out before taking a sip of lemonade. "What do you think?"

Before Bradley answered, Carol cut in. "I think he was crazed from the beginning, then finally just snapped and killed everyone."

"Why do you think that?" he repeated his question to his biological mother.

"Well," she cleared her throat. "I don't know."

Both he and Sarah nodded, acknowledging the ambiguity surrounding this topic. "I read some articles about it and no one seems to know why Uther killed them, but I don't think it was the work of the devil," Bradley stated. He turned to Carol. "I think he was crazy from the beginning, but I wonder who triggered it. Also, why did he poison his son only and physically murdered the rest?"

All three of them became silent as they tried to come up with an answer.

"Maybe his son was stronger than him…so he poisoned him instead," Carol suggested.

"Or, maybe the poison was meant for all of them but Arthur just happened to drink it first," Sarah answered.

They waited for their son's answer for a good two minutes before he said, "What if one of the women murdered Uther's only son and he killed all of them because he didn't know who did it."

The mothers' eyes widened, nodding their heads thinking it could be possible.

"Well," Carol started. "We will never know since they are dead now and they seem to have taken the answer with them."

* * *

It was around two in the morning when Bradley finally turned off the lamp by his side and went to sleep. He didn't know how long he had been sleeping, but after some time he was awaken by a loud scratching noise by the window. He was sleeping, lying on his back. He opened his eyes and glanced to the alarm clock – it was 4:36 A.M. He looked up to his window and saw nothing. He shrugged and was about to go back to sleep but there it went again – the same scratching noise, only growing louder with time. This time, he tried to sit up to turn on his light, but he felt an invisible force push him down and could no longer move. Fear overtook his body as he started to feel the same eerie chill he felt upon entering the mansion. His skin released a vast number of Goosebumps while the hair on his arms and neck rose to full attention as he heard a noise…as if someone was choking. He was able to look down to his right foot with a strained movement of his neck, his body still pressed down, and gaped as he saw a greyish-blue woman wearing a green dress laying there, staring at him with her dead blue eyes. The scratching noise didn't come from the window but was made by her fingers, scratching the floors. He wanted to scream but nothing came out of his mouth. He tried to move but the force that was pressing him down only grew stronger the more effort he put into it. The woman's mouth opened wide and a loud, shrill scream came from it.

Bradley closed his eyes tightly as his heart began to beat rapidly, whispering prayers. Then suddenly the pressure left and he could move again. When he opened his eyes, it was daytime already. He sat up in a cold sweat and looked around his room for any evidence of the woman but she was nowhere to be seen.

"Bradley!" He jumped at his other mother's voice. "Angel is here!"

He put his palm on his face and swept his long fingers through his blond hair as he tried to process what exactly happened to him.

"Bradley!"

"I heard you!" he shouted back, a bit annoyed before getting up to get to the door, but stopped as he spotted the wooden floor covered with scratches by where the dead, screeching woman was. He hadn't seen these scratches before. He squat down and took a closer look. There were some freshly made splinters there, as if the scratches had just happened. Then he noticed something about the piece of wood: there were no nails in the nail's hole. He knocked on it and learned it was hollow. Using his nails, and with a few attempts, he was able to lift the piece of wood up. He gaped as he saw a dusty red leather-covered book underneath the floor. Slowly, he reached down and picked it up. He unclipped the straps that locked the book close and turned to the first page. It read:

This book belongs to: Arthur Pendragon

And Bradley gawked at it in disbelief. He had found the diary of the late Arthur Pendragon.

* * *

**A/N:** Let me know your opinions in the comment box below :D


	2. Chapter 2

**Title:** I Will Still Love You Tomorrow

**Disclaimed: **Sadly, I don't own Merlin.

**Warning:** AU, BROLIN, MERTHUR, VIOLENCE, and CHARACTERS DEATH

**A/N:** Okay, I just want to let everyone knows that you have to pay attention to the **DATE, PLACE, AND TIME** which is written at the beginning of each chapters and sometime in the middle of the story because you will get confuse with the present and the past if you don't. Anyways, enjoy :D

* * *

Chapter 2

Wilmington, July 24, 2012

Angel held the diary in both of her hands like it was a pot of gold. Her eyes and mouth went wide with surprise as she just continued to stare at it for a very good long moment. "Arthur Pendragon's diary," she whispered, possessively.

Bradley couldn't help but hold back a laugh at the chocolate-skin girl's reaction. He didn't show his parents the book quite yet. He simply changed quickly, put on his shoes and went downstairs to greet the three women. With a quick good-bye to his mothers, he left the mansion with Angel. They were walking a few yards before he showed her the diary. "Yeah, I know," he agreed.

"I have to let Katie know," she said as she finally stared back up at him, which in return she received a confuse look. "She's my friend. She was obsessed with the Pendragon family murder ever since she was a little girl. This will come as a surprise to her."

He frowned. "She's not going to take the diary from me, is she?"

She opened her mouth to answer but shortly afterward closed it. "I don't know."

He forcefully snatched the book away from her. "Then I don't think it's a good idea to tell her."

"I thought you weren't interested in the history of the Pendragon family," she stated, curiously.

"I wasn't until I saw a dead woman lying in the middle of-" he paused when she reached a hand up to him and he sighed. He forgot he had made a wager with her. He dug into his pocket, pulled out his wallet and took two twenty-dollar bills from it. "Before telling this Pattie-"

"Katie," she corrected as she took the money and put it in her pocket.

"_Katie_, about the book, I want to read it first. Just in case she decides to take it," he said.

She frowned. "Katie is not that kind of person, you know?"

"Then how come you couldn't look at me in the eyes and tell me that she wouldn't take the book without my permission?"

She sighed and gave up. "Have you read it?"

He shook his head. "I just found it."

"Then what are we waiting for?" She led him to the open grass hill and sat down on the dry ground. He followed and sat next to her. He opened the book and Angel moved closer to him in order to get a better look. He tried to see if he was attracted to her but he felt nothing: no butterflies in his stomach, no fast heartbeat, no blushing. She then realized she was too close to him and pulled away, blushing. "I'm sorry. Why don't you read it out loud?"

He nodded and turned three pages before landing on the first written page with dedicated cursive handwritings. "December 02, 1917. My name is not Arthur Pendragon. If you're hoping to read about the pompous, arrogant prat then I will tell you the unfortunate news that you will never a find a journal that belonged to him, since he is not capable of doing the simple task of writing. He claims that writing is only for girls. What a stupid idiot..." Bradley paused, lips thinning and closed the diary. "This is a joke. Someone must have switched it."

Angel looked at the book curiously. "Well, let's see who took their time to replace the diary," she said, nodding to the book, obviously still wanting to read the journal.

Reluctantly, Bradley reopened the book and turned the pages until he saw the closed signature. It was at least twenty pages before he found it. He recognized the signature as the same one as the one on the painting which covered the door of his room. "Merlin Emrys," he whispered.

Angel's eyes widened in surprise. "Arthur Pendragon knew Merlin Emrys?" she asked in shock, took the book from Bradley and looked at it closely.

He looked at her curiously. "Who's Merlin Emrys?"

"He was an artist in the 1920s; a painter and sculptor, I believe," she answered. "He wasn't really famous but one or two paintings did make the school textbook."

"How do you know that?"

"Well, my brother was an art major so he happened to do a research paper about Emrys's work when he was in college. I remember, because he strangely became obsessed with the artist for a long time afterward," she answered. The declaration triggered a little unhappy memory.

"Why?"

She shrugged. "He never told me why either. He just said Merlin Emrys's paintings can tell many stories, from happiness to sadness, and only the ones who have experienced pain can understand," she said as if she was reciting a play and her eyes became distant.

Arthur could see how uncomfortable she was to talk about her brother so he didn't push for more answers. "Well, here." He handed the book to her.

She looked at him in shock. "You don't want to read it?"

He shook his head. "I thought it was going to be about the Pendragon family but it seems I was wrong. I don't want read something that's only rambling gossip," he said and rose to his feet. He reached a hand to her and helped her up.

"Thank you," she said, brushing the dirt from her pants with her hands. "For the book."

He smiled at her and as she returned the smile, he could see her expecting him to kiss her from just the look in her eyes. Then he heard a beep from a vehicle and as he turned his head in the direction of the noise, he realized that it was the moving truck. Oddly, he felt relieved. He turned to the chocolate-colored girl and said: "I have to go."

She nodded with a disappointing look before he turned to leave. "Bradley," she called to him; he halted to turn back to her. "If you want to know more about Merlin Emrys, I can ask my brother for his research paper?"

He shook his head. "No, that won't be necessary," he called back and she look defeated. Feeling a little guilty, he added, "But I believe you still have to take me around town."

She beamed. "Just call me when you're not busy and I will take you."

He nodded and left.

* * *

"I'm home," Gwen called out as she entered her home and closed the door behind her. No one answered her call, which was weird since her father was home when she left. She placed the diary on the dining table as she went to the kitchen. There, she saw a note stuck to the fridge, attached magnetically. She read aloud, "Have to go back to the office. Won't be back 'till late. Love, Dad." She smiled and opened the fridge to get a carton of milk out. As she was pouring the milk into a glass cup, a loud thud from upstairs made her jump and she spilled a little of the liquid onto the table. She stopped pouring and looked up to the ceiling, listening intently. Silence.

She sighed, closed the carton and put it back into the fridge. Then she heard a strange noise from behind her, like something heavy was being dragged across the floor. She could feel the hair on her neck and arms rise. She hesitantly turned around to see what was making the noise…but nothing was there. "Hello? Is anyone there?" she called out as she was moving toward the dining room – but there was no answer and no presence of anyone. She shook her head, thinking it was just her mind playing tricks on her.

After she wiped down the table and drank her milk, she grabbed the diary and went upstairs to her room. She put the diary on her desk as she closed the door and changed into more comfortable clothing: a blue cotton pair of shorts and white tank top. Then she went to sit on her chair in front of the desk and opened the diary. Just as she was about to read, her door creaked ajar and she instantly froze. The temperature in her room suddenly dropped to a freezing degree and she could see her breath had turned white as the door continued creaking until she was sure it was wide open now. She wanted to turn around and see who was behind her, but at the same time she was paralyzed by fear.

She closed her eyes tightly, and with a deep breath, slowly turned around but there wasn't anyone behind her and the door was still closed. She blinked, and swore that she heard the door being opened. As she turned back to the dairy, her eyes widened in fear as they rested upon the eyes of a dead woman's face that was staring back at her.

Angel gasped as her eyes went wide open. She jolted up and looked around her, realizing that she was still in her room, but it was now dark. She ran to switch on the light. She looked around her room but didn't see anything abnormal. No dead woman's face, no cold air, no creaking doors…but her body would not stop shaking. Her knees gave out on her and she collapsed to the ground.

When did she fell asleep? She didn't even remember falling asleep. She looked to her alarm clock and realized that it was 4:36 AM. She slept the whole day away? She wanted to check if her parents had returned home but was too afraid of leaving her room…but was her room really any safer than the rest of the house? Then she heard a scratching noise from her desk and her eyes went to the diary. She didn't know why but she felt like she needed to get up and get out of her room. She scrambled upwards and opened the door. She gasped as she almost ran into her mother, Ivy.

"Angel," her mother said in a startled voice. "Are you okay?" Her expression turned to worry as she saw how frightened her daughter looked.

Light? It wasn't nighttime? Angel wondered as she realized it was still daytime, glancing about herself, frantically.

"Honey," Ivy's voice finally brought her back. "Are you okay?"

"Um…ah, yeah, I just had a nightmare," she said and forced a smile.

"All right… Well, I'm going grocery shopping. Do you want to go with me?"

"Please, yes!" She didn't mean to shout but she really didn't want to be alone in this house. When she saw her mother's disturbed reaction, she forced another smile. "I'll get ready."

Ivy nodded and walked back into the hall, studying her daughter suspiciously.

Angel didn't close the door as she changed, knowing her father was not home. She didn't want to be alone in her room. Then she saw the diary and gulped. There was definitely something wrong with it, she assured herself. She looked at her alarm clock once more. It was 4:36 PM.

* * *

Wilmington, North Carolina

July 27, 2012

By the time Bradley finally finished unpacking three days had already passed. He was resting, flat on his stomach on his dearly missed and beloved bed, reading a sports magazine about the Miami football team when Sarah came into his room with a plate of fresh cookies and thick computer papers. She sat on the bed next to him, putting the cookies on top of Bradley's three-drawer nightstand. "Hey, are you still interested about the Pendragon family?" she asked.

He sat up and shrugged. "Like my mother said, we can't solve the mystery since the people with the answers are already dead."

She smiled deviously and handed him the thick pile of freshly printed computer paper. He realized that it was a copy print of a newspaper dated from 1924 about the deaths of the Pendragons. "'Albion Weekly'?" he read the label of the company, which was written on the first page.

She nodded. "This newspaper company wasn't really popular back in the 1920s and was closed down in the late 30s, but…" She flipped through the copies until she landed on a page with a portrait of a very handsome young man with blond hair. The man looked a lot like Bradley that he had to take a second look. Besides the clichéd 1920s slick-back trendy hairstyle, slightly snobbish smirk, and the formal classy suit, he had the same chiseled face, same large eyes, and same pouty bow-like lips that Bradley had. "He was Arthur Pendragon," she said. "And he looks a lot like you, don't you think?"

Bradley laughed nervously, a little bit disturbed by the irrefutable similarities and covered the picture with the other paper. "Nope."

"No?"

"I'm more handsome than him, thank you very much," he said humorously and she laughed. "So is this all you wanted me to see? A _dead _person that looks like your very much _alive_ son?"

"Well if you put it that way, it is kind of creepy," she said and punched him playfully on the shoulder. "This newspaper company actually printed something different about the Pendragon family."

He arched one of his eyebrows. "What? A ritual of Satan was taking place here?"

"No," she laughed. "A journalist named Leon Knightly actually claimed that what he wrote had _really_ happened within the family. And what he wrote about Uther Pendragon…he wasn't quite the father figure that the others put him out to be."

"How is it that this Leon guy's story is any different from the others?"

"Leon Knightly was one of Arthur Pendragon's childhood friends, and what he saw of the Pendragon family is quite crazy," she replied.

"Why would he write about his dead friend's family?"

"Precisely! Why would he write about his dead friend's family? I thought you and your new friend, Angel, can try to find that out," she said gleefully and he frowned as he realized that his other mother just did. "What?" she asked, innocently.

"So, you did all of this just so I would spend more time with Angel?" he asked, throwing the papers onto the nightstand beside the bed, some falling to the ground. "Not cool, Sarah."

"Hey, I went through a lot in order to get these newspapers," she said and leant down to pick up them all up.

He scoffed at the comment but rose off the bed to help her pick up them up. "Why is it so hard to find these tattletales, anyway? I'm pretty sure you can just get it off from the library."

She sighed. "_No_, like I already told you, this newspaper company wasn't really famous back in the 1920s, so it's more complicated to get a copy of it," she said, expressively.

Bradley looked at Sarah, repentantly. "Sorry," he apologized. "Who gave it to you?"

"A colleague of your mother sent it over from Asheville. I think her name is…dah…something James," she said as she began reorganizing the pages.

He sighed and took the papers from her. "I will do the organizing," he said. "And I will call and see if Angel is available. She is insanely obsessed with this whacky Pendragon family."

"Well, Wilmington is a historical town and the Pendragons' murder case was a huge part of it," she said, smiling. "When you return, you want to help me with the garden? It's a big mess in there and it will take a lot of time to clean it up."

"Sure, if it's not too late when I return," he said, and immediately regretted it as he saw the sly smile on her lips. "Please don't say anything."

"All right. I won't bother you anymore," she said before she strolled out.

When he made the call to Angel's house with his cellphone he asked if she was available to take him exploring downtown, she ignored the subject. Instead, she asked: "Bradley…three days ago, you said something woke you up. What time did you wake up?" Her voice sounded a bit odd, like she was sick.

"Ah…I don't remember. Why?" he asked.

She paused for a few long seconds. "Was it 4:36 AM?"

The memory of the dead woman on the ground suddenly came rushing back to his head, like a splash of cold water at Angel's question. He could feel his body break into a cold sweat as Goosebumps broke through his skin, as if that woman was standing behind him or something.

"Bradley, can you come over? Please. I think the dairy is…strange," she said, nervously.

His eyebrows furrowed in confused. "What do you mean _strange_?"

Her breathing became choppy and he could hear wind blowing strangely in the background. "It's just strange."

"What?"

"I don't know, but…please come take it away from me," she pled.

She clearly sounded spooked out and he felt like it was his fault for some reason. "Okay, okay. I will be there in a little bit," he said, understandingly.

"Thank you, Bradley. My house number is 5439," she said before the other line went dead.

He put the phone into his back pocket as soon as he wrote the number on his palm with the pen nearby. He went down to Carol's office in the west wing of the large mansion. He knocked before he entered. His mother's blue eyes looked up from the document to meet her son's. She clearly had no want to be disturbed. "Do you need something, son?" she asked.

He smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, Mom. I just wanted to know if it's okay to take the car to Angel's house?"

She took her thick glasses off and looked at her son, appallingly. "Angel's house? Son…why?"

"Don't get your hopes up, mom. She's just showing me around town, that's all," he said exasperatedly. He bounced on the heels of his feet for a moment. "So can I?"

She sighed and opened the right drawer of her desk and pulled out her keys. As he reached for it, she pulled back. "You remember the rules?"

"Refill the gas and don't crash into any other cars," he recited.

She smiled and finally handed them to him. "Remember to wear protection," she yelled out after him as he was leaving the office.

He rolled his eyes and closed the door. He went back to his room to get the newspaper copies and put on his sneakers before heading outside to the car. He stopped as he saw a blond man standing by the trees with his back facing him. "Hey," he called out to the man but the man didn't make any movement. Bradley stalked toward the stranger. "Hey, who are you?" he demanded, voice growing strained with agitation.

"Bradley?" He heard Sarah's voice from behind him and he turned to her. She was coming out from the green house, carrying some small empty flowerpots. "Who are you talking to?"

He turned back to where the blond man should have been standing but he was no longer there. "You didn't see him?" Bradley asked, pointing to the patch of trees the man was examining.

She gave him a confused look. "See who? I didn't see anyone," she said. "Are you feeling all right?" Her face turned to worry.

He gulped and nodded. "Yes, I'm okay," he assured her before he walked to the car, Sarah walking back inside the house. He drove for a few miles before he saw a large cottage with solid red bricks and a green roof to his right side. Angel wasn't kidding when she said the distance between houses in the countryside was far from each other. He looked at the number on the mailbox and the number he wrote on his palm. It was the same. He drove down the bricked pavement toward a parking space next to the house and came out from the car.

When he got onto the wraparound porch, he was about to knock on the green wooden door when it swung open and Angel's arms went around him. To say the least he was surprised by her direct action. "Oh my god! I was so scared you weren't coming, Bradley," she said, sounding relieved and then pulled back, looking a little bit embarrassed. "Sorry," she apologized. He realized that she looked a little sickly.

"It's all right," he said sincerely, waiting for her invitation to come in but when she didn't, he asked, "May I come in?"

She gasped and blushed. "Ah! Yes, of course. Where are my manners," she said shamefully, chuckling, and let him into the house. She closed the door as he took in the inside of the house. "I will get us some tea," she said and disappeared into the kitchen.

The cottage house wasn't very big compared to the Pendragon's mansion but it had a second floor. There were a lot of glass cases full of ceramic angels in the living and dining room. Tables with vases full of different arrangements of sunflowers and the newly-crafted furniture looked as if it was made in the 18th century.

"Bradley," Angel said, gesturing him to the dining room.

"On the phone, you didn't sound too good," he started as he is entered the dining room but he paused as he saw the diary on top of the table. She was sitting on a chair, holding her cup of tea but she wasn't drinking it. There was another cup of tea sitting on opposite her, steam rising and he assumed it was supposed to be his. He waited for her to invite him to sit but when she didn't he awkwardly took a seat anyway. "Where are your parents?" he asked.

"Work," she answered simply.

He nodded and they became silent for a long time. He could see she was acting really strange and wondered what the cause was. Slowly, he leant over and grabbed the diary. As soon as he touched the diary, she inhaled deeply and exhaled as if something heavy was lifted from her body. He gave her an eccentric look while she gave him a questioning one.

"Bradley, when did you get here?" she asked, obviously confused.

He gave her the same confusing look. "You just called me to come out here."

"Really? Did I?"

Bradley pulled back, still staring at her oddly. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," she answered, and as her eyes laid carefully on the diary, a little fear overcame her. "I couldn't read it."

"What?"

"The diary," she said, pointing at the book. "Every time I tried, something always happened."

He arched a brow at her suspiciously. "Like what?"

She shrugged. "Creepy things, like sounds or dreams," she started but stopped as she realized how crazy she sounded. "I don't really understand what is happening but I don't think I was meant to read it." She looked so sad that Bradley gave in.

"Why don't I read it to you then?"

She beamed. "Would you?"

He nodded and opened the same page he did three days ago. "December 02, 1917. My name is not Arthur Pendragon. If you're hoping to read about the pompous, arrogant prat then I will tell you the unfortunate news that you will never a find a journal that belonged to him, since he is not capable of doing the simple task of writing. He claims that writing is only for girls. What a stupid idiot he is. When we first met three months ago, September 09, 1917, he didn't even consider me as a friend. He said that the first class never leveled themselves with the second class or the third, but now he's claimed me as one of his official friends. I rejected his offer, of course. A no class like me is too proud to level myself with the first, second, or third class. Let me tell you the tale of why I rejected him…"

**TBC**

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**Special thanks to:** scheiGuy for his wonderful work.

**A/N:** REVIEWS PLS! :D


	3. Chapter 3

**Title:** I Will Still Love You Tomorrow

**Disclaimed: **Sadly, I don't own Merlin.

**Warning:** AU, BROLIN, MERTHUR, VIOLENCE, and CHARACTERS DEATH

**Special Thanks to:** scheiGuy for being the AWESOME beta!

**A/N: **Okay remember to pay attention to Date!

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**Wilmington, North Carolina**

**September 09, 1917**

A bump on the road made the car rattle forcing Merlin Emrys to wake from his nap. He groaned and rubbed the portion of his head that bumped into the window where he was resting it. His friend, William Elias Vanderwood – Merlin called him Will for short – was also thrown into consciousness by the same reason Merlin was. Adam McLoving, the Vanderwood's butler, was the driver of the car and quickly apologized to his passengers, as they headed toward the private school the two young boys would be staying until winter break.

"Where are we now?" Will asked, rubbing his sleeping eyes.

Merlin looked out the window and shrugged. "I don't know."

From outside the window of the car all one could see were landscapes of corn crops that could go on for miles and miles. There were some fields that had red or brown farms scattered about, but there were no houses in sight.

"Can't believe my dad actually sent us off to private school," Will whined.

Merlin grinned. "Well, he wouldn't have if you hadn't nearly torched that old Simmons's house," he pointed out.

His friend scoffed. "Yeah, she deserved it. That stupid old crone," he snickered. "But you didn't have to bear this torture with me. You could have stayed with your mom."

Merlin smirked. "You really think she would have said no to your father when he offered me an education to one of the best private schools in North Carolina?"

"He's only doing it because he thinks you're a better son than me."

Merlin frowned. "You know that's not true, Will. Your father loves you," he assured his friend.

"Sometimes I wish that were true," Will confessed. "Well, at least you're an honest friend to me and for that you've earned respect from my father, unlike those who like to kiss up to him."

"Nobody likes to kiss ass, Will. Besides, it isn't really fair for the other kids when we've all known each other since birth. I'm pretty sure some of them genuinely want to be your friend," Merlin said, smiling, but Will only scoffed at the comment. Then Merlin noticed the large building coming into view that looked like a giant castle, making it feel like he had been transported to another time in history – the Medieval Times. "It's beautiful," he said, truly astonished.  
Will only saw it as a prison and sighed dreadfully. "Where all the rich and snobby brats have lived their entire lives," he added.

Merlin laughed. "I'm pretty sure they're not that bad, Will. You're rich but _you're_ kind."

"That's because my father taught me _how_ to think, not _what_ to think. Not all within the rich society is as wise as my family. I mean, come on – who in their right mind would secretly marry a white woman and a black man in the state of North Carolina?"

"A kind one like Mr. Vanderwood," Merlin said, firmly.

Will smirked. "I know." He added, "And Merlin, if one day you fall in love with a black woman, I will definitely help you two get your secret marriage."

"I will hold that in your account, Will," he said with a grin.

The car stopped in front of the gate. A security guard came to confirm their arrival with Adam. Merlin was going to miss Adam, along with his mother and the Vanderwood family. Adam was a very loyal butler for the Vanderwood family ever since Merlin met them. He was very skinny and old, probably in his early sixties but he was still very strong and an open-minded person. His hair was gray and he had a bald spot on the top of his head. His eyes were light green and his skin was wrinkling. He was the person Mr. Vanderwood trusted most. Merlin thought Mr. Vanderwood hoped that Merlin would be Will's loyal butler someday, but a year ago tragedy struck, and that hope shattered. Merlin had been diagnosed with tuberculosis, much like his mother. The doctor said there was no way to tell when exactly this disease would claim his life, which was not really reassuring in any way. He was told that as long as he kept up his healthy lifestyle, his happiness, and took his medication, he could live a long, fulfilling life. This wasn't 100% accurate, of course, but if Merlin was anything in this life, he was a fighter through and through.

The security guard finally went into his booth and opened the gate for their car to enter. They drove for at least another two miles on the pavement before they were in front of the school's entrance. The castle-look-a-like school had the school name "Camelot Private" imprinted in stone on top of the large door entrance, with two giant dragon statues railing down each side of the case of stairs.

A round man around his mid-forties with well-groomed brunette hair and narrow brown eyes with a very thick pair of glasses came out from the entrance with a few of the school servants. They came to help Mr. McLoving carry Will and Merlin's luggage into their dorm room. He was not very tall, probably only a few centimeters taller than Merlin. He was wearing a tan-collar shirt with a black tie, red blazer, and black trousers. Merlin could see the round man was smiling and looked very jolly as he approached them, but he sensed that this man was going to be very domineering and rude. He met people like him before and defining them was now easy.

"This must be the young Mr. Vanderwood," said the round man, smiling from ear to ear as he shook hands with Will. Then he turned to Merlin and his eyes changed from kind ones to lusty ones, which Merlin thought was disturbing. "And you must be Merlin Emrys," he said with interest. "I've heard so much about you from Mr. Vanderwood." He reached out his stubby hand for a shake and Merlin reluctantly took it but quickly pulled back when he realized the older man was actually caressing his hand.

Will saw what happened and pushed Merlin behind him protectively. "I'm sorry, but, _who are you?_" Will demanded.

The man gave them a crocodile smile. "I'm sorry. That was rude of me-"

"Yes, it was," Will snapped, angry eyes shot daggers at the older man. Will did not appear to be a very intimidating person but he was very skilled in hand-to-hand combat.

"I'm Gilbert Roland Porker, the vice principal of this wonderful school," he said matter-of-factly, still eyeing Merlin while gesturing to the grand building. "I will assign a student to show you around after school hours. Right now, Mr. Kilgharrah, your principal, is waiting for you young boys in his office." He finally broke his lustful contact with Merlin and walked up the stairs, expecting both of the boys to follow. "Come on, boys," he said, gesturing his hands for them to come up.  
Merlin and Will exchanged apprehensive looks before following the pervert up the stairs and all the way toward Mr. Kilgharrah's office. Will leaned close to Merlin as the older brunette man chattered away about how wonderful the school and the staff were in a faked polite voice. "It hasn't been five minutes and we already meet the biggest perv' in Wilmington," Will whispered loudly to Merlin.

"I know…I think _he_ thinks that he can take advantage of me just because I'm poor," Merlin scoffed, agreeing, shaking his head.

His friend gave out a muffled chuckle. "Don't get yourself kicked out on your first day, Merl'."

"Ha, unlike _you_ I have nothing to lose," he reminded Will, causing him to frown.

"If you get kicked out then so will I."

Merlin smiled and playfully elbowed Will. "Friends till the end, huh?"

"Merlin, there is no end for us. There is only-"

"_Infinity!_" Both of them said in unity with a laugh, which stopped the perverted vice principal from his chattering, turning to the two boys.

"What is so funny?" Porker demanded.

Both of them gave him identical sly smiles. "Nothing," they said, and as the pervert turned away to continue his rambling of nonsense both of them rolled their eyes in annoyance. "And he calls that courting," laughed Merlin.

"Do you think he has sexually harassed any of the boys here?" Will asked curiously.

Merlin rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Probably…but if he did, we will-"

"Make sure he gets kicked out," Will finished for him, both boys nodding in agreement.

"Come on, let's meet this principal," Will said as he wrapped his arm around his best friend's shoulder. They followed the rambling pervert the rest of the way to the principal's office. As they entered, Porker greeted a slender and attractive young secretary, who was sitting behind a desk by the principal's office entrance. In front of the desk there was a holder for a nameplate, imprinted was the name Aithusa Tarragon. Merlin wasn't sure if Aithusa's hair was either white or platinum blond but it made his pale skin look tanner. His eyes were attractively stormy-blue. He had a round face with a soft chin and elegant cheekbones. His body looked very edgy as if he had never worked out his whole life.

Aithusa smiled attractively toward the two new students, excusing the perverted vice principal as he spotted them. "You must be William Elias Vanderwood and Merlin Emrys," he said politely with a smooth voice. They nodded shyly at him. "I'm Aithusa Tarragon," he introduced himself as he rounded his desk and opened the principal's entrance door for them. They entered. "Mr. Kilgharrah will be with you two shortly," he informed them before he went back out.

They could hear Porker try to flirt with Aithusa but the beautiful secretary dismissed him in the most gracious way. When they heard the door slam outside, Merlin and Will couldn't help but laugh quietly at the continued failure of the vice principal's attempts. They soon came to a stop as a tall, older man with bright golden hair matching his golden eyes came in with another tall, handsome boy with wavy dirty blond hair. They already assumed the older man was the principal since the boy was about their age, wearing the school uniform: crisp, black dress shorts, a tan-collared dress shirt with a red vest covering it that held the patch of a golden dragon, raised and poised for attack, sown onto his left side – it fit nicely with his well-built body and long legs, with a black tie wrapped around his muscular neck. Meanwhile, the golden-haired principal was wearing black trousers, a white-collared shirt with a gold tie and a black blazer.

"Greetings, gentlemen. I am Mr. Kilgharrah, your principal," he introduced himself, smiling cheerily; Merlin and Will were no fools to that smile, as they've seen those kind of eyes before: the kind that seemed permanently fixed with intimidation. "This is your dormitory head boy, Leon Knightly, and he will be the one to show you around the school, as well as your room."

The handsome boy smiled charmingly at his two new classmates.

Mr. Kilgharrah went around his desk to sit in his black Georgian wingback chair before pulling two red folders from a drawer and dropping them onto his desk. He opened Will's file first and scanned it quickly before scanning Merlin's file. After five short minutes, he put the files down and looked up to the boys. "So…you torched your last principal's house, huh?"

"Almost torched," Merlin corrected, but Mr. Kilgharrah was not amused.

He sighed. "Because Mr. Vanderwood is a very old friend of mine, I will turn a blind eye on this unfortunate event, but…" He give both of the boys a grimly stare. "If you ever try anything like that on my school grounds, I will make sure you will not be able to attend any other schools. Is that clear?"

Merlin knew both he and Will didn't care much about their education. Ever since they were little, they never dreamt of becoming someone who would sit behind a desk in a boring office and do boring paperwork. Their plans were to travel around the world, living off the money they earned with their talents in painting, writing, and music – a world with no greed or materialistic-attachment, only freedom. Unfortunately, they had to wait until Will turned eighteen to inherit his late grandfather's wealth before they could begin their journey.

"Yes," both of them answered at the same time, but knew that threat wouldn't stop them if the tides turned that way.

Mr. Kilgharrah slowly nodded before turning to Leon. "I will put them under your care, Leon. Be sure to take care of them – especially _him_." He directed the last part specifically to Merlin.

Merlin grimaced at the tone the principal was using. Why do they worry so much about him when the one they should really worry about was Will? Will was the prankster of their dynamic duo: the one who could ruin everyone's day with a simple word, while Merlin was more like an acquaintance to the trickeries his friend created. But this _is_ Camelot Private, first-rated school of the first class society. Will was already accepted as a human being among the first class society, due to his father's good-standing, but Merlin had met snobby know-it-all brats before and they are certainly ruder than any of the people living on the street. "Don't worry about me. I'm sure I can manage," he assured his principal, confidently.

Will smirked and nudged his friend's elbow lightly. "Yes, he may be not look like it but he is more capable than you think," he said, encouragingly.

Mr. Kilgharrah still looked wary but nodded. "Then carry on. Mr. Tarragon will give you two your schedules at the front desk."

All three of them bid Mr. Kilgharrah good-bye and went out the door. Aithusa handed them both a card with their class schedule printed on it as they were leaving.

As they came out from the office, the two friends looked at each other as if they were reading the other's mind: they both wondered if this _Leon_ was going to be a stuck-up rich boy like the others. "So what does your family do?" Will asked, breaking the silence. Usually, snobby brats will start gloating about their family's fortune.

The handsome dormitory head boy simply grinned. "My father is a journalist for the New York Times while my mother is a housewife," he answered, politely. "But I wouldn't want to talk about my family."

"Why not?" Merlin pressed on, curiously.

"Well, you two are rich boys, I'm pretty sure it is nothing new to hear," he clarified as they walked around the long halls, though the statement wasn't exactly true, Merlin was not eager to tell him otherwise. They noticed the floor underneath them had a diced carpet of the colors red and gold, while the white walls surrounding them had red, silky curtains that fell freely where there was no entrance door to a classroom. There were oil paintings of some supposedly important and old professor. "Today, I'm just going to show you the school and the dormitory. So, if you would just follow me," Leon said as he lead them upstairs. "Camelot Private is a remarkably big school; has six five-story buildings, but it didn't start off like that. A very rich British duke named Taliesin Alastair Galashiels first built it in the early 1800s for his friend…"

Will turned to Merlin, rolling his eyes, obviously not interested in what the handsome dormitory boy had to say about the history of the school. As Merlin turned to him, Will gave him a nod and he knew it meant that it was time to ditch the tour guide. "Me first," Merlin mouthed.

After a long minute of a mouthing argument on who was to sneak away first, Will finally mouthed back, "Fine."

Slowly, Merlin smiled victoriously and turned to look if Leon was paying any attention to them. When he was assured the other boy wasn't, he slowly paced backward to escape. Luckily, he was not wearing the flat-heeled shoes his mother bought him with the little money she had or Leon would have heard him walking away as he carefully stepped onto the marble floor nearby. He knew he could get lost in the large school, but he was pretty sure he could find himself around: a sense of direction was always one of his greatest abilities.

As soon as he knew he was in a safe location, he took out a quarter from his pocket and scraped silver patches onto the wall so Will would know where to find him later. While he was walking around the school unsupervised, he came outside the building and into a very wide and long-stoned pillar passage. Merlin was astounded by how vintage the brilliantly white pillars looked. The volute wasn't sculpting in leaves like the pictures in most books he read but was well-defined by nude cherubs. As he looked closer at the pillars, he could see whimsical marks of stems, leaves, and flowers. Between each pillar there was a stone banister with green vines beautifully curled around it, further escalating its beauty. On his right side there was the large school garden, filled with all kinds of different colors and types of flowers. The six buildings were built circularly around in the garden. On his left side was a simple open field of clean cut grass with a large tree nearby. There were some outdoor wooden tables and benches underneath the tree and he could see some students hanging out there.

Merlin's attention turned back to the pillars. As he walked toward the middle admiring it, a voice said, "The pillars were designed by Taliesin himself."

He looked up, startled, as his eyes laid upon a boy with short dark hair in the same school uniform as Leon sitting on one of the stone rails with his back on one of the pillars; on his lap rested an opened book, faced down. He smiled beautifully at Merlin with his brown eyes twinkling. "His father was an architect so he grew up in some interesting buildings."

Merlin broke their gaze. "It's beautiful."

The dark-haired boy's eyes glanced toward the tree for a split second before he stood up from where he sat and straightened his uniform.

Merlin looked to where the boy had glanced and saw a skinny boy with curly dark hair was running toward the group of boys that was sitting by the tree with a steaming cup of liquid. Merlin eyed them curiously.

"I'm Lancelot Du Lac, by the way," he introduced himself, turning Merlin's attention back to him.

"I'm Merlin Emrys. I'm new here."

"Really?" he said, amusingly as he studied the new classmate's clothing. Merlin forgot he was wearing his casual brown hand-me-downed pants and tan shirt. "Then where is Leon?" Merlin's lips thinned with an awkward and guilty expression as Lancelot quickly grasped what happened. "You ditched him," he said, a tiny laugh escaping his lips. "Well, he is a kind person but he can get too into the details sometimes." He walked passed Merlin. "Well, don't get lost, new kid." He left and disappeared behind the door.

Merlin sighed and was about to walk away when he paused as the curly hair boy yelled, "…but you promised you would give it back!" He could see and clearly hear the other boys were laughing at this weak boy's request. One of the six boys – no, seven boys – was holding a black leather bag, which Merlin believed belonged to the weak boy. He knew he shouldn't get involved but he hated when it came to snobby brattish bullies acting like…snobby brattish bullies.

As he was making his way over, the boys were throwing the bag around to one another, out of the weaker boy's grasp, as they laughed and called him nasty names. Unaware of Merlin approaching, he managed to catch the bag before one of the bullies caught it. "Hey, that's enough," he said, handing the bag to the weak boy.

The smaller boy tried to make a run for it, but the other bullies blocked his way. One of the boys, a blond one, came towards Merlin, giving him a curious look. To Merlin, the blond boy was extremely handsome, more handsome even than Leon and Lancelot combined. His blond hair was straight in thick strands, small bangs drooping over his forehead, nearly concealing his brilliant ocean-blue eyes. His nose was Romanesque in shape, accompanied by his chiseled jaw and full, red lips. His posture was…royal, almost: strong and determined. His eyes conveyed the same subtle power. Merlin's breath hitched at the boy's beauty, but quickly reigned in his emotions and _hormones_ before the stranger acknowledged him.

"What?" The blond probed, simply.

"You've had your fun, my friend," Merlin answered, civilly.

The blond boy, Merlin assumed he was the leader of the group, was obviously not amused, as he stepped closer to him, eyeing him up and down. "Do I know you?"

Merlin didn't understand why but he reached out his hand and introduced himself. "I'm Merlin Emrys."

He didn't take Merlin's hand. "So I don't know you," he stated, humorlessly.

Merlin grimaced and pulled his hand back. He should have known how a rich brat would behave; he shouldn't have tried to be nice. "No."

"Yet, you call me friend?"

"That was my mistake."

"Yes, I think so."

He scowled at the blond. He may _look_ like a prince but he surely wasn't _acting_ like one. "You're right: I'd never have a friend who could be such an _ass_," Merlin said, smugly, with a smirk and turned to the weak boy who was trembling like a mouse now. He smiled a friendly smile at the boy and pulled him along as he attempted to walk away.

The blond boy scoffed and said, "Or I, one who could be so stupid."

Before Merlin could respond to his criticism, his face met the blonde boy's fist. He landed on the ground but quickly got up and punched the blond right back. Before they knew it, they were throwing each other punches while the other boys were cheering. He didn't know exactly when Will appeared but at some point he did and began backing Merlin up, but both of them combined were obviously losing, being no match for the lone blond.

* * *

Merlin worked his aching jaw as the nurse applied ointment to the bruises on his cheeks after she had attended to Will. The blond wasn't speaking or facing them as the school doctor attended to his wounds. Merlin knew he landed some good punches to that pretty face, though his face received more damage.

"How the hell did you get involved in a fight?" Will hissed at his friend with a quiet voice after the nurse had finished.

Merlin sighed. "He was bullying a kid. I couldn't just _stand by_."

Will laughed, wryly. "I should have known," he said causing Merlin to grin, but it faded as soon as the nursing room's door broke open and in came a very angry-looking Mr. Kilgharrah.

His fiery eyes threw daggers into theirs, ignoring the blond completely. "Mr. Williams Elias Vanderwood and Mr. Merlin Emrys, what did I specifically ask you two to do? It wasn't even your first day and you get into trouble? Now, explain to me why I shouldn't send you two packing!" He demanded angrily.

Merlin could see the blond was eyeing him with a smug smirk on his face. "He was bullying-"

"There is no proof," the blond boy said, interrupting Merlin's defense.

"Mr. Arthur Pendragon, don't you dare-"

"Yes, there is proof," Merlin snapped, cutting the principal off, glaring at this _Arthur Pendragon_ daringly. "If you could just find the black-haired boy with blue eyes… he was carrying a black bag pack."

Mr. Kilgharrah swept his long, almost scaly-looking fingers through his hair, frustrated. "Do you have any idea how many boys have dark hair, blue eyes, and carry a black bag pack in this school?"

Merlin gave him a confused look. "He didn't report it?"

The principal turned to Arthur with the same fiery eyes but the blond remained confidently placid which irritated the principal the most. He knew well the blond boy was a bully in the school but because of his father's high status _everything_ went his way. All the other students who fell victim to Arthur's entertainment would not come forth because their family status would come to ruin. Mr. Kilgharrah wanted to help these students but he couldn't when no one would speak up. "No," he answered. "No one reported it."

As he looked at Merlin, he realized something: no one had ever stood up to Arthur like that before. There was no fear in his actions and now Mr. Kilgharrah finally found hope. He pretended to sigh, disappointingly. "I promised your father, young Vanderwood, that I would take care of you and your friend here," he started walking around the three boys. "But I can_ not_ let this event go unnoticed. I don't want any more fights in my school. So therefore, young Pendragon…" He turned to the blond who merely stared back blankly at him. "Emrys here will be your new roommate."

All three of the boys jolted up in rage at the same time. "_What!_"

"No, I am not sharing a room with…with _him!_" Arthur shouted angrily.

"Now, Mr. Pendragon, you should have thought of that before you got into a fight with Emrys."

"Surely, there is another way," Merlin said, disagreeing.

"Yeah," Will jumped in.

"No. Until you two get past your differences, I will not change my mind," he stated, clearly as he took his leave.

Arthur followed him out. "My father will hear about this!" he threatened, but the principal no longer paid him any attention.

Merlin and Will exchanged disbelieving looks as Arthur came back in, giving them a look of disgust.

* * *

**Wilmington, North Carolina**

**July 24, 2012**

"…he gave us a look of disgust. I shot the same look back at him. And that is how I first met Arthur Pendragon. Merlin Emrys," Bradley finished reading the first segment of the diary, which took twenty pages and half an hour to read. He looked up to Angel, who was obviously astounded by it.

"He knew Arthur Pendragon," she said, anxiously.

"Well, we're not sure," he said, closing the book. "I mean, for all we know, this _Mer_lin could just be making this up. He was an artist, and from what I know about artists, they tend to have large, extravagant imaginations. Plus, this person might not even be Merlin Emrys."

She frowned at his cynical tone. "Then…should we make sure this is real?"

He looked at her curiously. "How?"

Angel smiled, slyly. "My brother's best friend's father is an archeologist."

* * *

**A/N: **Let me knows your opinion of the story :D


	4. Chapter 4

**Title:** I Will Still Love You Tomorrow

**Disclaimed: **Sadly, I don't own Merlin.

**Warning:** AU, BROLIN, MERTHUR, VIOLENCE, and CHARACTERS DEATH

**Special Thanks to:** scheiGuy for being the AWESOME beta!

**A/N:** Thanks you all for the lovely reviews! It always help me know that there are people who appreciate my story. I will keep update because of you guys so don't stop reviewing and I won't stop updating :D

* * *

Chapter 4

Wilmington, North Carolina

July 27, 2012

"So, this archeologist...what does he do for a living if he is not somewhere around the world digging up bones?" Bradley asked conversationally as he drove toward the destination Angel told him to go.

Angel was sitting on the passenger seat next to him, holding onto the red dairy. "Archeologists don't only study bones, Bradley. They study the activity of the past – such as, but not limited to: artifacts, architecture, bio facts, and cultural landscape," she explained but he merely shrugged it off. She bit her lip, trying not to roll her eyes in annoyance. "To answer your question, he retired a few years ago when he lost one of his legs in a car accident. He is actually a professor now," she replied. "And he is Katie's father."

He frowned. "So is this you tricking me? Tricking me into showing her the book?"

"You gave me the book. So of course, I can do whatever I want with it and I wanted to show the book to Katie and her father."

"Why didn't you just call her to read you the book, then? Why did you wait until I called you?"

Angel didn't know how to answer him. The past few days…everything that had happened around her had been extremely strange, nothing the likes of which she could explain. She also didn't understand why she didn't call Katie either, and instead waited for Bradley to call. However, even if she told Bradley everything he was too much of a skeptic to believe her.

"Even if I were to tell you, you wouldn't believe me anyways."

Bradley could hear the disappointment in her voice and he felt like kicking himself. He's never really been one to judge people about their beliefs since he was partially raised by Sarah who was very liberal and open to everything, but his birth mother Carol was very a cynical, realistic person. So he would listen to any absurd tale with an acute ear but he would not believe it until he experienced it for himself. Although, for some reason, he felt guilty making Angel upset. "Look, I'm sorry if you're offended. I'm just not-"

"Not a believer, I get it," Angel snapped, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

He groaned, feeling a little frustrated which made her see that he really did care – at least just a little.

She sighed. "Look, Bradley. I understand you don't believe in ghosts or anything supernatural," she started, "but the way you interpret what I believe makes me sound like I'm a liar."

He shook his head. "No, I don't think you're a liar, Angel," he said and glanced at her. She still looked pretty upset. He exhaled. "Okay, I really don't think you're a liar. It's just me being a skeptic."

"Are you always this skeptical? I'm pretty sure you played pretend when you're little like every other kid. What changed?"

Bradley knew exactly why he had always been skeptical but it didn't mean he had to tell her. Yet, for some reason, he felt obligated to explain it to her. After a few long seconds of an intense debate within himself, he decided to finally fill her in. "When I was little – I think I was only six – my mother and I were on a road trip to visit my aunt Allina in Washington D.C. It was a very long drive up there – eighteen, maybe nineteen hours. We always stopped every two hours at a rest area to stretch our legs and eat our meals or snacks. If my mother got sleepy then we would take a nap in the backseat of the car. One time, when we were napping in a rest area parking lot in Georgia, I heard someone say my name – not out loud, just a low, icy whisper. It woke me up. I looked up to my mom and she was still fast asleep so I thought maybe I dreamt it. I laid my head back on the pillow and was about to go back to sleep when I heard it again. This time I peeked outside the car's window and I saw a little girl standing by the bathroom door – well, I thought she was a little girl. I mean, she looked like a little girl but for some reason it felt like she wasn't. I couldn't even explain why I was so afraid." He paused as the memory came rushing back to him, full force, filling him with the anxiety and fear he experienced that day, so many years ago.

Angel touched his hand and squeezed it gently. "Did you ever tell your mother?"

He nodded. "She wouldn't believe me...she kept telling me 'It was just a dream, it was just a dream.' When I insisted that it was not, she yelled at me. Ever since then I never told anyone if I ever experienced anything paranormal, and I eventually stopped believing anyone's paranormal encounters altogether."

"It must have been hard, especially when your own mother wouldn't even believe you," she said sympathetically but he remained quiet. Slowly, she removed her hand from his and placed it back onto the diary. "I should warn you. Katie's stepmother is a shaman and her beliefs can be a little bit overwhelming."

He looked at her curiously. "Overwhelming like what?"

* * *

"You have a spirit in you that is waiting to be unleashed," was the first thing Katie's step-Asian-mother, Lee Yang Coulby, said the second after Angel introduced the two of them. Mrs. Coulby was very short, maybe four feet and eleven inches at the most with long, black, and very curly hair, brown almond-shaped eyes and pinkish-brown full lips. She was wearing a very long, flowing brown and pink flowery dress with a brown leather vest, and gladiator sandals indoor. She had a green pearl necklace around her neck and a bunch of silver jingle bracelets around both her wrists.

Bradley's lips thinned and his inquisitive eyes widened at her attire and behavior.

"Mrs. McGrath, is Mr. Coulby here?" Angel asked.

"No, but he will be back shortly," she said but her gaze never broke from Bradley's form, which made him feel very uncomfortable. "But Katie is in her room."

"Thank you," Angel said, and was about to walk upstairs but stopped herself when she saw Bradley was following her. "You can't come with me."

"Why?" he murmured, looking at the Asian woman who was giving him the stink eye.

"Mrs. Coulby doesn't allow Katie to have boys in her room," she explained and gave him the "please understand" look.

"Fine, but come back and make it quick," he said, almost sounding like a beg.

She smiled amusingly and nodded before disappearing up the stairs, leaving him downstairs with the weird Asian woman in her small house filled with random magazines, newspapers, and books stacking everywhere. "She is not the one you are looking for."

"Excuse me?" he asked, giving her a confused glare.

"Your soul...it is searching for the person you love, but Angel is not her."

Bradley let out a wry laugh. "No, no – I think you got it all wrong, Mrs. Coulby. I'm not looking for anyone."

She smiled kindly at him. "A nonbeliever, I see," she said and walked toward a room which Bradley assumed to be the living room. He trailed after her when she gestured with her hand to follow her. "Even if you are not a believer, it doesn't change that I can see what you are looking for." She leaned down and cleaned the stacks of magazines off from one of the sofas and gestured for him to take a seat.

He went over and sat. "What are you talking about?

"I'm talking about your love life," she answered as he made room for her to sit, "which happens to be very important."

He pinched his face, looking at her in disbelief. "What?" He felt like he was talking to his mothers. He didn't understand why they were so keen on finding his soul mate. He was only seventeen. Did he really look that desperate? He sure didn't feel like it though.

* * *

Katie was writing down her recent research about the new findings of the Pendragon case on her blogging page of her laptop when Angel appeared in front of her. Unlike Angel, who was dressed in casual clothes and had a normal bedroom, Katie loved wearing all black with dark make-up. The insides of her room held walls that were painted as dark blue as the evening sky, with many posters of her favorite bands, such as HIM, Metallica, and My Bloody Valentine covering them. Black candles, different colored stones, and a scatter of different brands of tarot cards were all over the top of her black dresser, nightstand, and desk. There was some burnt incense by the windowsill that didn't have any curtains. However, her wooden floor was very clean, immaculate even, besides the ink spills by the left corner, but that was something that could not be cleaned.

"Angel," she said, obviously surprised.

"Hey," Angel smiled and went over to sit down on the bed, knowing her friend never minded. "Did you find something interesting about the Pendragons' yet?"

"Yes, don't I always?" she said proudly with a satisfying smile. "Do you remember when I told you about how Morgause Le Fey's family line actually survived?" she asked, excitedly and Angel nodded. "Well, I asked a guy to hack into the Addy's Address website – you know, where you can search for people for a price – but the guy did it for five fruit roll-ups boxes. Anyway, what he found for me were the three different addresses where three of her great-great grandchildren are now." She gave out an enthusiastic squeal by the end of her findings, accompanied with two exciting fist pumps in the air, but frowned when Angel was not as motivated as her. "What's wrong? You're usually so disgustingly happy."

Angel slowly pulled out the diary from her purse. "This is Merlin Emrys's diary."

Her friend looked at her, confused. "So?"

Angel frowned. "Remember Emrys?"

"Of course, the historical artist your brother got obsessed with. Why is he so much more exciting than the Pendragons' case?"

"Actually, this diary is more exciting because – get this – he knew Arthur Pendragon."

"Who? Your brother?"

"No," Angel said with a sigh and slapped Katie on the knee, earning a scream from her friend. "Emrys knew Arthur Pendragon. Actually, he went to the same school with Arthur Pendragon...well, they were roommates."

Besides the unhappy sensation about the slap, the information caught her emo friend's attention. She put some effort into digesting it all. "So...you're meaning to tell me...that in this diary...he wrote about Arthur Pendragon?" she asked in disbelief, feeling the butterflies in her stomach as she snatched the diary from her friend.

Angel now understood why Bradley was trying to hold back his laughter when he first showed her the diary. The expression was priceless.

Katie gave her a stupefied look. "No one ever knew anything about Arthur Pendragon's life – other than his infamous womanizer status – but this diary holds the story of _the_ Arthur Pendragon!" Katie squealed, and was about to open it before Angel quickly took it back from her. "What are you doing?"

"You can't read it," Angel said in grave tone. "It brings a lot of…evil things."

"Like what?"

"Dreams."

Katie frowned and snatched the book away from her. "Don't be ridiculous, Angel!"

Angel stood up from where she sat and tried to get the diary back from her friend. "Hey! Give it back!" She tried to reach for the book but Katie pushed her away and opened it, when suddenly she heard a loud thud from above her.

"What was that?" Katie turned to Angel, but her eyes widened in confusion as Angel was nowhere to be found – she was just here a while ago. There was no way Angel could leave the room without passing her first. Then she realized the house suddenly became dark – pitch black, it was as if the sun was setting – but it was way too early in the afternoon. A sobbing noise came from the hallway, which made Katie jump. She looked toward her door.

Out in the hallway someone was sitting in the middle of it. "Angel? Is that you?" she asked, but the person didn't answer, only emitted a soft sobbing sound. "Hey, I'm sorry. I will give it back to you," she said, closing the diary and walked toward the person she thought was Angel in a slow pace.

Why is the hallway so dark? Katie wondered as she strode out from her room and into the hallway. "Angel," she said as she was only five steps away from the heap of sobs and limbs. "Angel? Are you okay?"

Katie realized the woman was in a moth-eaten green dress from the early 1900s. Both of her palms covered her face as she was sobbing, and at this moment, Katie knew this person was not Angel. She turned to run but the woman suddenly grasped her wrist. Katie turned to the ghostly woman and regretted it the second she looked at the dead, cloudy eyes and rotten face staring back at her. "The Wicked deserve to be cast into hell…Divine justice does not prevent God from destroying the Wicked at any moment," the dead woman whispered icily.

Katie did the only thing she could think of: she screamed.

"_Katie!_" Angel shouted and Katie gasped as she came out from her trance. Katie's widened eyes stared up to Angel fearfully. "Oh my god, I thought something happened to you," she said and hugged her shaking friend.

Katie blinked and held her friend tightly. "What happened?"

Angel pulled back and shrugged. "You opened the book and your face went blank and then you dropped the book," she explained and looked at her friend questioningly as her eyes shifted to the book lying on the floor. "What? What happened?"

"A curse was put onto that book."

Angel nodded. "I know, I know. I tried to tell you," she said and Katie gave her an apologetic look. "Only Bradley can read it."

"Bradley?"

Angel nodded again.

* * *

Mrs. Coulby leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees, and stared directly into Bradley's blue eyes earnestly. "In your former life – the one before this one, you left something or someone important behind and you are searching for them, almost desperately."

He backed away from her but their eyes never lost contact. He let out a wry chuckle. "Right, like reincarnation in the Buddhist religion."

She nodded. "Yes."

"So I'm Buddhist now?"

She smirked and slapped his leg. "No, don't be an idiot. Reincarnation beliefs are not only known to the Buddhism religion, Mr. Morgan. It can be found in Taoism, Druidism, Theosophy, et cetera, et cetera."

"Okay, I don't understand – what does my last lifetime have anything to do with my love life?"

"The concepts for reincarnation are that the soul, after a certain death, begins a new life in a new body that may be human, animal, or spiritual, depending on the pervious life's action. In your case, I think," she gave him a long second study before saying, "a promise was made by you to your soul mate."

Before he could ask any further questions, Angel came down with another girl which Bradley believed to be Katie. She was only an inch or two shorter than him with very pale skin. Her large grey eyes absorbed the colors violet and blue, which she happened to be wearing both now on her shirt. Her dark hair was long and wavy, down to the length of her waist. She had this impudent appearance on her face, and her dark make-up didn't really help but he didn't think she was meant to look like that.

As he was studying her, she was studying him too and it made him feel very uncomfortable.

"It's real," Katie said.

"Huh?" he said, at loss for words.

She tossed him the diary, which he almost didn't catch. "The diary is real."

"How do you know?"

"I'm my dad's daughter, of course I know. Right, mom?" She turned to her step-Asian mom who only smiled at her in return. "Plus, I think the book is cursed," she said and finally. Bradley had heard enough.

He rose up and made everyone turn his way. "I'm leaving," he said and turned to Angel. "Would you like me to drop you off or is your _friend_ here," he gestured to Katie, "willing to take you home later?"

She looked at him, perplexed. "I don't understand. Why are you leaving? I thought you were interested in the Pendragons' case?"

"No, no," he shook his head, staring at her firmly. "I certainly did not say anything about wanting to know about the Pendragons' case. I drove all the way to your house because you sounded spooked out by whatever you read in this diary." He placed the book on top of the pile of magazines. "And from there, I was dragged here to hear a bunch of…nonsense! So, I'm leaving." He strode past a hurt-looking Angel and an angry-looking Katie, toward the door. He went into his car and he swore to himself he would not be contacting any of them anymore.

Both of the girls looked at the book and gulped. Mrs. McGrath chanted something in her native tongue before picking the book up and placing it inside a wooden cupboard. "He will return for it," she assured the two girls with a warm smile. "It's just a matter of time."

Katie frowned. "So, that means, we won't figure anything out until he comes back for it."

Angel nodded. "But I doubt that will be anytime soon."

* * *

Wilmington, North Carolina

August 07, 2012

_The air was quite cold but Bradley was dressed warmly for it. The trees were in their different beautiful colors of orange, yellow, and red. He could hear the crunching sound of leaves under his feet and smell the scent of Earth. He didn't know where he was but he knew where he was going. He stopped as he saw a boy around his age sitting on a large boulder not too far away from him. The boy was wearing a blue shirt with a red scarf around his neck, a pair of brown trousers protecting his legs from the cold. His raven hair was cut short and showed off his cute, overly large ears. Bradley couldn't see his face but for some reason, from the bottom of his heart, he knew exactly who this person was. He felt a longing for this boy._

_He called out to the boy but the name was deafening to his ear. The boy heard him and turned to him. For some reason the boy's face was blurry to his sight except his smile. Bradley found himself smiling and running toward him, wanting to hold him tightly. Just a few more paces and this beautiful boy could be in his arms._

"Bradley! Wake up!"

His blanket was pulled away from him as the cool air in his room washed over him. It was Sarah who woke him. "Wake up or you won't be able to have time to enjoy your breakfast before school!" she shouted playfully but Bradley just curled up and attempted to fall back into another slumber. He wanted to continue that sweet dream. Sarah sighed and finally grabbed a hold of both of her son's shoulders and gave him a nice, hard shake. For a woman, she was pretty damn strong. "Bradley! Wake up! Wake up, Bradley! Don't make me get Carol!"

Finally, he groaned and sat up. Sarah could be absurd when it came to waking up a person but his biological mother was worse: _ice cold water_ worse.

"Wash up, get dressed, and come downstairs for breakfast," she ordered before she walked out.

Bradley stretched his arms up and took a peek at his alarm clock. It was 6:32 AM. School started at 7:45 AM, but it would take him twenty minutes to drive to Camelot High. He thought it was ironic that his parents decided to enroll him into Camelot High, the same private school that Arthur Pendragon attended almost a hundred years ago. The only difference was that it was no longer a private school, not for the last forty years anyway.

He yawned and went to his dresser. He pulled out a regular pair of jeans and a dark green cotton shirt and put them on. Then he went to the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth. When he came out, he was surprised to see Angel standing in the hallway, staring at the painting of the red and peach anemone flowers that was moved to the wall in the hallway. It had been two weeks since he last spoke to Angel. She did try to make a few phone calls but he ignored all of them. He ended up roaming downtown with Sarah. It was a good thing Sarah looked nothing like him so it was less embarrassing for him.

"Hey," Bradley greeted Angel as he approached her.

The air was filled with awkwardness – he felt like he had abandoned her at her friend's place the last time they met, but with all the talk of the paranormal...it just overwhelmed him. "Hi," she greeted back.

"What are you doing here?"

"Apologizing," she said genuinely. "I'm sorry if I come on to you as a little pushy sometimes."

He could see that she really regretted what had happened between them. Even if the wish that his parents wanted him to date her never came true, she was still the first friend he had made ever since he moved to North Carolina.

"I'm also sorry for being a complete…I think what you call it is an _arse_."

She chuckled lightly at his fake English accent. "So are we cool now? I promise I won't bring it up again."

He sighed. "Yeah, we're cool," he said. "Do you want me to drive you to school?"

"I drove here," she replied. "But I can take you to school."

"Yeah, take him! Take him!" They heard both of his mothers' whisper from a room nearby, obviously having been eavesdropping on them from there.

Bradley frowned. "Don't tell me this is why you woke me up, mom. _Sarah_," he called to them and all he could hear was loud, poorly muffled laughter. He turned to Angel who also found the situation amusing. "I guess I wouldn't mind getting a ride to school from you. Perhaps, you can show me around the school since you didn't show me around town."

She smiled and nodded. "All right."

* * *

Bradley's homeroom teacher, Mrs. Grayson, showed him where his locker was and gave him the combination number before she went back to attend to her class. He put away his book bag and went back into his first class, Biology. He peeked through the window on the door and looked at the classroom. There was a huge periodic poster on the wall facing him that took over most of it; there were a bunch of tubes, and skeletons of animals and bugs. He assumed the classroom must have been shared with physics and earth science, also.

He gave the door a knock before the very old teacher with white, shoulder-length hair and a wrinkling face turned to it. As he came over and opened the door for Bradley, all the students – including the sleeping ones – turned to gawk at him. "You must be the new student," he said and let him in as all of the other students in the classroom whispered loudly to each other. Some of the pretty girls sitting in a group in the middle of the room were giving him erotic facial expressions. Bradley couldn't help but smile sexily back at them which made the circle of girls fight between them as to who he had smiled at.

"Yes, I'm Bradley Morgan," he replied, returning his attention back to the teacher.

"I'm Mr. Wilson," the teacher introduced himself and looked around his large classroom for an empty seat. He spotted one behind the one of his favorite student. "You may take a seat next to Santiago over there," he pointed to the seat behind the very handsome dark-haired, tan-skinned boy.

Both Bradley and the boy exchanged a smile before he made his way over. "If you don't mind my asking, are you Venezuelan?" Bradley whispered to Santiago.

He smirked. "Yes, how did you guess?"

"Spent some time there when I was thirteen."

"A lot of people just guess I'm Mexican."

"No, there is a difference."

"So I've noticed," he laughed.

Mr. Wilson cleared his throat before both of the boys stopped talking. "Now, as I was saying before we were interrupted by the new student, I want everyone to pair up into groups of two. And you better like whoever you choose to pair up with because they're going to be your partner for the rest of the course."

All the girls came running to Bradley but he took no interest in their requests. He turned to Santiago and was about to ask the Venezuelan boy to be his partner but he seemed to have already chosen a partner, a brunette girl in her red and gold cheerleader outfit. With the cheerleader's mouth practically sucking Santiago's lips, Bradley guessed she was probably his girlfriend. He sighed and searched for any other student in the class who wouldn't try to get into his pants. He spotted a nerdy-looking blond girl with glasses, and a very bad case of acne, holding a book basically plastered onto her face sitting a few seats away from him. He stood up, ignoring the crowd of girls that were still fawning around him and went over. "Hi, I'm Bradley James. Would you like to be my partner?"

All the other girls gasped and cursed loudly at the choice Bradley had made.

The nerdy blond girl may have looked horrible with the acne and glasses but Bradley could see she would be very beautiful if it weren't for that. "W-what? Y-you can see me?" she stuttered shyly, avoiding making eye contact with him.

He laughed dryly. "Yes, since you're not exactly invisible, of course I can see you," he said and took the seat in front of her, smiling. She took one glance at Bradley and blushed furiously. "So would you like to be my lab partner…um…"

"Georgia," she answered nervously but clearly very happy. "My name is Georgia King."

An hour later, while Mr. Wilson let the class mingle, Bradley found Georgia King very likable. She told funny jokes that actually made him laugh genuinely. Her clumsiness when they were trying to mix some chemicals together was a disaster but he could not bring himself to be mad at her. Before the bell rang, Mr. Wilson gave each of the pairings a stapled pile of ten pages of research papers: their assignment.

"So, I will see you at the Wilmington Public Library later?" Georgia asked when they were cleaning and gathering their books.

"Yes, at five," he replied.

She smiled almost sadly. "Thanks, Bradley. For being so nice." Before Bradley could reply she was already disappearing into the crowd. He smiled humorously and shook his head at her cuteness.

As Bradley was walking toward his next class, the brunette girl that Bradley assumed to be Santiago's girlfriend blocked his way in the hallway and said, "You shouldn't hang out with pimple-face if you want to be popular in this school."

Bradley arched one of his brows, staring at her questioningly. Santiago was nowhere in sight. "What? Who are you to tell me who I should hang or not hang out with?" He went around her and continued his way toward his next class. All the other students were staring at him, or probably the cheerleader who was still following him.

She smiled arrogantly. "I'm the head cheerleader Amber Winchester and the soon-to-be prom queen _and_ the most popular girl in school. I've noticed that you have a very beautiful face – almost as beautiful as my boyfriend's, who is the quarterback, of course – and I know you can be very popular like one of my own. So I advise you to stop hanging out with pimple-face and I will talk to Mr. Wilson to change your partner to Crystal. She is…she's not as ugly as pimple-face."

Bradley stopped walking and turned to face her, a bit annoyed. "Her name is Georgia, Amanda. So call her that."

She looked at him, appalled. "Excuse me? My name is Amber, not Amanda! So if you want to make friends here in Camelot High you better be nice to me," she threatened and Bradley instantly hated this girl's guts.

"Bradley!" They heard Angel's voice and turned in her direction. She was coming down the hall with Katie.

Amber's face pinched up in disgust at the sight of them. She turned to Bradley. "Ugh! Yuck, don't tell me these _weirdos_ are your friends?" Amber said in a loathing tone.

"Bug off, _stick mantis_," Katie hissed at the cheerleader as they finally came to their location.

"Mind your own business, _Elphaba twat_!" she sneered.

Katie launched at the cheerleader but Bradley was able to catch her in time and pulled her back. "Hey, hey, calm down," he said soothingly.

"She called me a twat!" Katie screeched.

"I know, I know. But she's definitely not worth you getting suspended," he said and was able to calm the headstrong Goth a little. Angel was comforting her when he turned back to the cheerleader, whose nose was raised high and mighty. Bradley didn't find her insult amusing. He had never seen anything so repulsive as her in his entire life. "Apologize to her," he said simply, nodding toward Katie.

Amber turned her head away with her arms crossed. "You must be dreaming."

Bradley smiled broadly. "Then, until you apologize I will make sure I am your _worst nightmare_."

That threat caught her attention but she sneered. "Like you can."

Bradley smiled sexily and she was drawn to it. "We shall see, Kimber," he said vulgarly and walked off before the cheerleader could say anything to him.

Katie smirked smugly at Bradley who avoided it. "So, I take it that you forgive me for being rude to you at my house since you defended me from stick mantis over there." She looked back at the pretty cheerleader who was still in a daze.

"Not exactly. I just don't like bullies, even when it comes to defending the people I don't like," he said causing Katie to frown. "But, an apology can make us friends."

"Fine," Katie pouted, crossing her arms. "I'm sorry."

"You are forgiven," he said, smiling and finally earning a smile from his raven-haired emo friend. "Now, Angel, do you know where the public library is?"

Angel studied Bradley curiously. "What are you going to do with Amber, Bradley?"

He grinned. "I hate people like that…stick mantis," he said and earned smile from Katie. "And who's to say I was never popular back at my old school?" He hinted and both of the girls blinked at him in astonishment. He was not just all about good looks but he also had a great almost knight-in-shining-armor nature about him. "Anyways, can you show me where the public library is later today?"

* * *

The library was very big and tall – probably four stories high – and all the windows were tinted black so looking in from the outside was impossible. There was even a lower level to the basements where they kept some important documents that could not be checked out. Bradley didn't want to take his whole book bag full of textbooks, so he decided to take only his biology book and a simple folder.

As he was busy getting his stuff together, he realized the girls were already going up the stairs and toward the entrance. "Hey, can't you at least wait for me?" he called out to them.

"But you're not interested in what we are looking for," Angel stated and he knew they were talking about the Pendragons' case. "We will be on the fourth floor when you're ready to leave."

"Fine," said Bradley and they walked off.

He quickly gathered his things together and walked up the stairs. When he got to the entrance, the cellphone in his pocket rang. As he reached for it, his biology book fell to the ground and causing all the papers to slip out from the bag. "Damn it," he cursed under his breath and glanced at who was calling him – Carol. He flipped his phone open and answered. "Yeah?" He knelt down to pick up his papers.

"Where are you? Aren't you supposed to be home by now?"

"Crap. I'm sorry, forgot to tell you. I'm at the library with Angel. I'm doing a biology research paper with my lab partner," he said.

"Your lab partner is Angel?" his mother said, voice full of hope.

"No, my lab partner is a girl in my class named Georgia but Angel is also here with me."

"Oh, okay then... Just be back before seven. Sarah is cooking chicken alfredo."

"Okay."

"Love you."

"Love you too, mom," he said before he hung up.

Just as he finished picking up his papers a group of boys came out from the library. They were chattering loudly and laughing, ignoring him. He made it a point to ignore them, too, and was about to walk in when one of them called out to him. "Hey, is this yours?" Bradley turned around to see who it was but the sun was in his eyes. Even if he was using his hand to block out the sun's rays he couldn't really see the boy's face, but he could tell that he had short raven hair and a beautiful smile. The smile looked so familiar – where have I seen that before? "Here," the boy with the beautiful smile said and put Bradley's missing piece of paper on top of his book when he didn't respond.

"Colin! Come on, let's go," said another boy from the group and pulled the raven-haired boy away before Bradley could actually get a good look at him.

Unknowingly, he felt an urge to go after the raven-haired boy. He didn't understand why but there was just something about that boy: Bradley felt the need to see him again.

"Bradley," Georgia came out from the library. "I thought you-" Bradley didn't even let her finish and dropped his book and folder to the ground. "Bradley!" She called after him but he ignored her and rushed down the stairs back to the parking lot but by the time he got downstairs he couldn't see them anymore. As he just stood there trying to catch his breath, he wondered why he had run after someone to the parking lot blindly; what confused him the most was that his heart ached from losing the very sight of that person.

"Bradley," he heard Georgia's voice and turned to her. She gasped. "Are you okay?" she asked worryingly.

He blinked. "I-I'm fine."

"Then why are you crying?" she asked and he just then realized that he was, in fact, crying.

"I…I…" He wiped his tears away. "Dust got in my eyes when I was running down here," he lied and she didn't seem convinced but she didn't question him any further and he was thankful for that. He didn't know how he would answer her if she pushed for more. "Let's...let's go do our biology research." He walked over to her.

She nodded with a warm smile. "Okay," she said as they walked back up.

Quietly, he turned his head around in the hope of seeing the raven-haired boy again, with that beautiful bright smile that stretched from ear to large ear, still somewhere near him but was disappointed when he saw nothing but parked cars, the occasional stranger stroll by on the sidewalk, and the emptiness of the field before him that closely resembled the emptiness in is heart.

**TBC**

* * *

**A/N: **So let me know what you think :D


	5. Chapter 5

**Title:** I Will Still Love You Tomorrow

**Disclaimed: **Sadly, I don't own Merlin.

**Warning:** AU, BROLIN, MERTHUR, VIOLENCE, and CHARACTERS DEATH

**Special thanks to: **ScheiGuy for being the awesome beta that he is :D

**A/N: **In this chapter, nothing really happen but if I don't write it then it won't make sense later. Everything in this story have a purpose. Thanks everyone who reviews on my last chapter. I really appreciated it :)

* * *

Chapter 5

August 07, 2012

On the way back from the library, Angel dropped Katie at home first since her house was closer than Bradley's. After their good-byes and a promise for further searching of the Pendragons' case tomorrow, they left her house. Angel glanced at the unusual silent Bradley and wondered what happened to him that could make the usually chatterbox of a teen so quiet. "So, how was your study-time with Georgia today?"

Bradley made a sound like a hum and shrugged in disinterest.

Angel found it difficult to start a conversation now that she felt a little bit rejected. After opening her mouth a couple of times, trying to start up a conversation, she stopped and decided not say anything in the end.

"Do you know anyone by the name of 'Colin'?" Bradley asked after a minute of silence.

She seemed uncertain by the question. "Colin what?"

Bradley's face seemed frustrated. "I don't know," he said, sounding rather disappointed. "Never mind." He shook his head, folded his arms, and scrunched up his face as if the name was distressing him.

Angel tried to think if she knew anyone in the school by the name Colin. _Of course_, there were a few of them. It's not like Colin is a rare name, but without a last name, she couldn't exactly pick out who it was Bradley is referring to. "Why are you looking for this Colin?" she asked as she pulled onto the colorfully-pebbled pavement around the grassy hill.

He shrugged again. "It's nothing," he said unconvincingly.

"Come on, tell me. I'm your friend, aren't I?" Angel pled.

Finally, Bradley sighed in defeat and said, "I saw someone today…well, not exactly _saw_ him but there was just something about him that I couldn't put my finger on." He looked to Angel. "Does that make any sense at all?"

Angel looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean you didn't exactly _see_ him?"

"I don't know," he huffed, infuriated and confused at the same time. "I only saw his smile and his raven hair, but it felt as if I've known him from somewhere before…but I just can't remember when."

"But you've never seen his face before. How do you know for sure if you've seen him before?"

Bradley chose silence over a reply as he didn't understand why he was so frustrated for not getting a better look at the boy. Angel didn't push for more questions as they finally arrived in front of the Pendragons' mansion. He opened his side of the door and said, "Thanks for the ride, Angel."

She smiled. "I will see you tomorrow at school."

He nodded and turned to leave but she called him back. "Bradley, mind if I ask you a question?"

"No, what is it?"

"Did Mrs. Coulby say anything to you? About your love life?" she asked and he shrugged casually – but she _knew _the Asian shaman probably did. "Don't mind her. It's her career as a fortune teller, natural healer, and-"

"A good witch, I get it," he said and she let out a breathy chuckle. "She told me I'm desperately looking for my soul mate, which I am _not_."

"Did she tell you why?"

"Something about a promise…but promises are meant to be broken, right?"

"Heh, _well_, she told me that in my former life I was burned with my soul mate. Such a great ending, isn't it?"

"Burnt like a witch hunt?"

She laughed. "I don't know, but she said the fire was meant for me, and only me, but he chose to burn with me because he loved me. Does that make me a witch?"

Bradley shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe you should ask her that next time."

She smiled. "Yeah… Well, see you tomorrow."

He nodded and waved bye to her as she drove off.

* * *

August 22, 2012

_Even though Bradley could hear the rain hammering on his window, it was the sound of a ticking clock or a watch that had woken him up from a painful slumber. His vision wasn't clear but he could see he was in his room with a single lit candle by the nightstand next to his bed. Sitting on the bed, holding his hand was a woman in an emerald dress and dark hair. She was humming a lullaby softly, but stopped as the door creaked open and a dark figure appeared behind it. _

_ "What are you doing here?" asked the presence that was now standing by the door. _

_ She answered, "If it were not for God's restraints, there are, in the souls of wicked men, hellish principles reigning which, presently, would kindle and flame out into hellfire." _**  
**

_"You are not supposed to be in here!" The presence came toward the woman and Bradley in a black mist. _

_ Bradley closed his eyes tightly as his heart began to beat like a drum against his chest, parallel with the ticking sound of the clock. Then he heard inaudible arguments and screaming as the ticking became louder and louder. He started to whisper to himself repeatedly, "It's just a dream! It's just a dream." Everything suddenly stopped and all he could hear was his breathing. When he felt it was safe enough for him to open his eyes, he slowly took a peek around his surroundings. He sighed in relief, before-. He froze, petrified of what he saw. Four bodies were hung on the ceiling atop of him, staring down at him. _Dead.

"Bradley! Bradley!" Sarah shook him to wake him up. He gasped and panted in panic as he opened his eyes widely to find both of his mothers in his room in their night robes. They looked at him in worried. "Are you all right? You were screaming in your sleep."

He swept a hand through his face and into his blond hair as he tried to control his breathing. It was then that he realized his whole body was damp with cold sweat from head to toe. "Nightmare," he muttered, hiding half of his face with one of his hand, a little embarrassed.

Both of the mothers exchanged look. "What kind of dreams?"

He shrugged and his eyes shifted to his alarm clock. It was 4:36 – well, it just turned 4:37 AM. _Angel was right. What is up with the 4:36 AM_? "I don't remember," he lied. He still clearly remembered the lifeless faces and clouded eyes staring down at him from the ceiling where they were hung

.

"Do you want some warm milk?" Sarah asked, and he shook his head 'no'. Then she moved from the bed and went out from the room.

"Do you want me to stay?" asked Carol, caressing her son's forehead.

Bradley laughed dryly. "No, Mom. I'm not seven anymore."

Carol frowned but nodded understandingly and stood up from the bed when Sarah returned with a Native American dream-catcher. Bradley groaned. "Sarah, you don't need to do that," he protested. but she hung it on the bed stand, directly over his head, ignoring him.

"Just for precautions," she said and moved to kiss him on the forehead. "Good night – and try to have some sweet dreams this time." Then both of the mothers left the room, leaving the door slightly ajar. He could hear them go down the short dark staircase and out the second door below.

He lay his head back on the bed but was too afraid to close his eyes. The nightmare might return, but he needed to sleep before waking up for school in a few hours. After a couple of long minutes, he finally drifted back to sleep.

The next time Bradley woke up again it was around six in the morning, and he was glad he didn't dream at all. As he was making his way toward the bathroom, he heard a ticking sound echoing throughout the corridor. There were two old grandfather clocks inside the house – one in the living room and another is in the dining room – but this ticking was somewhat different from them. The dream came rushing back to his memory and his skin began to break into a cold sweat again. _Is this another dream?_

Then he heard footsteps coming up the stairs. He slowly retreated back, without breaking his eye contact with the set of stairs. As he thought something horrible was going to rear its ugly, most likely _dead_ head, Sarah came into view. "Oh, Bradley. You're up," she said.

He sighed in relief. "Yes, I'm up," he said.

She smiled. "Well, hurry up or your breakfast will get cold." She walked back down the stairs.

He swept his hand through his hair and laughed at his own foolishness. _I don't believe in ghosts_, he reminded himself and yet, here he was, expecting a spooky-looking spectre to appear right in front of him.

After he washed up and changed from his pajamas into more casual clothing, he went to join both of his mothers for breakfast. When he got downstairs, only Sarah was there. "Where's mom?" he asked, taking a seat, picking up a piece of bacon and some scrambled eggs onto his plate with a fork.

"She had to leave for work early," she answered, staring up to her son. "So!" she began, _too cheerfully._ "What are you doing today with the girls?"

"Nothing, since they're basically still eager to find out what had happened to the Pendragon family," he replied, a little bit annoyed. So far making friends was harder than he thought after he told the cheerleader off on his first day. _Nobody wants to be my friend, including Santiago. _

Sarah pouted. "Why did you stop researching the Pendragons' case? I thought you were interested in the murders."

Bradley knew exactly why he didn't want to do anything that involved him with the murder case: Angel and Katie were too excited over an unsolvable case that he didn't see a point of being a part of the lunacy. Also, he didn't want to risk another encounter with Mrs. McGrath, _the damn prophet_. "I lost interest in it," he replied simply.

She sighed, disappointed. "Well, you wouldn't mind helping me with the green house today, then?" asked Sarah.

He shrugged casually. "Sure, I don't see why not."

"Great."

* * *

All eyes were on Bradley as he made his way to the locker room, especially those of the cheerleaders who were practicing inside the gym while the P.E. class was doing their activities outside today. They were whispering about him, of how disappointed they were that he was not like them: snobby and stuck-up. He glanced at them, which caused them to squeal in excitement at the minuscule attention. He rolled his eyes and let out a huff in disbelief of their air-headed personalities.

As he entered the locker room, all the boys paused and stared at him for a second before continuing to their own business. Bradley never understood what their problem was with him. At first he thought maybe the _bitch_ of a head cheerleader told them to ignore his presence, but now that he thought about it…_why would all the boys in the school listen to her_? He could understand the football team since Santiago was head quarterback and…what's her name? – Kimber's boyfriend but why did all the other guys do the same thing?

While they were ignoring him, he was doing perfectly fine with returning the pleasure. It's not like he needed a guy as a friend. Angel and Katie were perfectly fine as his friends.

After he changed he went to join his classmates outside.

Couch Mariner was already there in his _short_ yellow shorts and white t-shirt. He was taking attendance while the class was answering his name-calling. "…Heller." "Here." "Henson." "Here." "Morgan!"

"Here," Bradley answered.

After another long two minutes of names being called, the coach finally finished and addressed his students. "Alright, run six laps and then we will play some football," he announced out loud, causing the students to groan and complain. "Come on! If you don't want to fail, do it _now_!" he shouted.

With another groan, they all started jogging.

Meanwhile, Bradley went over to the track line to number one. The coach saw him and yelled, "Hey Morgan! What do you think you're doing?" he demanded, but Bradley didn't listen to him. All he did was concentrate on his breathing and his surroundings. After a few seconds, he began running at full speed and ran pass _everyone_ at an impossibly swift pace. All the other students stopped running and looked at their handsomely blond classmate as he ran, non-stop, for six laps at the same speed. It was barely five minutes when he finished. Everyone was astonished by his skills.

Bradley slowed down as he approached Mariner. "Can I wait at the bench?" he asked. He was breaking a few sweats but he handled his breathing surprisingly well.

"Where did you learn to run like that?"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "I played football and was on the track team at my old school. It's nothing," he merely replied as he strolled by the coach to the bench without permission.

"Hey," Mariner turned to him. "Do you want to join the football team?"

* * *

"I'm thinking about joining the football team," Bradley brought up casually at dinner. Angel, Katie, and Georgia ended up being invited to have dinner with them by both mothers when Angel took him home after another biology assignment at the library.

Both of his mothers turned to give him identical curious stares. "But I thought you weren't playing any sports because you wanted to remain loyal to your team back in Florida," Carol said between mouthfuls of delicious chicken Parmesan.

"Yes, I did promise them that but I've felt very out of shape ever since I stopped playing. I'm pretty sure my friends back in Florida wouldn't mind," he said assuredly. "And I think they'll be more upset if the next time they saw me I've been fattened by Sarah's delicious cooking."

Sarah frowned at his comment, though it was _honestly a compliment_.

Carol laughed. "If you insist," she said and then looked to the three now awkward girls who were dining with them in the room. Her eyes carefully chose who she wanted to know first, and it landed on the more…depressing one. "So, Katie, what do your parents do for a living?" she asked.

Angel and Bradley exchanged looks, knowing that Carol was very skeptical and a bit judgmental – even more so than Bradley. If Katie mentioned what her stepmother did as a career, the night would certainly not end well.

It was as if Katie read their minds and answered, "My father is an archeology professor at Avalon University and my mother is housewife."

"A housewife?" Sarah asked interestingly. "Does she garden?"

Katie nods. "Vegetables and herbs."

"No flowers?" Sarah asked.

"She does plant flowers but only during the spring time."

Sarah smiled broadly. "Maybe I should invite your family over for dinner next time?"

"That would be lovely," Katie said in a convincingly-faked polite voice, which made Bradley and Angel hold back a laugh.

Carol turned to Georgia. "And what about you, dear?"

All of her three new friends looked at her with curious eyes. They haven't really asked her about her family or her background. Without looking at Carol in the eyes, she stuttered, "My d-dad is a truck d-driver and m-my mom is a h-hairdresser." She bit her bottom lip nervously as if she was trying very hard not to cry.

Carol smiled warmly at her, oblivious to Georgia's turmoil. "A truck driver, huh? He must travel to a lot of interesting places."

Georgia nodded, still not looking up for her plate, as if she was ashamed of her family. Bradley gave both of his mothers a warning look not to question Georgia anymore. They understood and ceased the questioning.

"Well, I heard that you're working on the Pendragons' case," Sarah finally said, changing the subject. Her attention went toward Angel and Katie. "So have you figured out how Uther was killed yet?"

Both of the girls looked to Bradley who just rolled his eyes and gestured his hand that it was okay to speak of it. Katie smiled, clearly excited.

"We don't know yet. _But_, guess what we found today," Angel said and pulled out a folder from book bag. Now Bradley was a little bit curious about the Pendragons' case. Angel opened it and pulled out a black and white copy of a picture, which seemed to be a royal family portrait. "This is Brutus Pendragon, Uther's father." She pointed to the man who was standing near a beautiful brunette woman with a long and elegant face and three young boys. Brutus was a very tall and very handsome blond man with a very strong jaw and beard, looking a lot like his grandson, Arthur.

"I think we're getting close to finding the truth," Katie added. "You know how, back in day, it was okay for the royal family to marry within the family?"

Everyone at the table, including the shy Georgia, nodded as they leaned in curiously.

"Brutus' wife, Katrina, was actually his first cousin. She was Brutus' father's sister's third daughter."

All of their eyes widened in interest and astonishment. "So that would mean there was _incest_ within their family line?" Carol asked, looking a little disturbed by the information.

The darkly-dressed girl nodded. "Incest wasn't proven to mess up a human's gene-"

"The recessive gene," Sarah added.

"Yes. It wasn't discovered until much later, so there's a chance that Uther had recessive genes that could have caused some sort of disorder in his behavior," finished Katie.

"And," Angel added, giving the audience to her attention. "There was a rumor that Uther's illegitimate sister, Morgana, was crazy and was kept her from the public: she was locked up in a room in the attic!"

The new information obviously caught Sarah's attention. "So there was definitely some crazy genetics in that family." Katie nodded.

Bradley suddenly became uncomfortable for some reason. He felt as if he had already known this bit of information, but this _was_ the first time he had ever heard it. He didn't understand himself anymore.

Suddenly, a loud thud from upstairs made everyone jump. They all slowly exchanged looks with each other. Bradley noticed how Angel and Katie shared identical scared looks before they jumped from their seat. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience. but it is late and I think I should take them home," Angel said as calmly and politely as her brain could let her.

"Yes, thank you for the dinner. It was delicious," said Katie as she is gathered her stuff. "Come on, Georgia." She hurried after the blond girl, and before Bradley could say anything they were already out the door. He followed them outside but by the time he got out, Angel drove off as soon as Georgia got into the car, which left him _very_ confused.

When Bradley came back inside the house, closing the door behind him, he saw his biological mother made her way back down with an oriental metal box, a lock protecting what was inside. "What is that?" he asked curiously.

She shrugged. "It was on the ground when I checked the attic."

"Isn't the attic empty?" he asked in confusion and Carol nodded. "And you've never seen this box up there before?"

"No," she said, turning the box around and reading an imprint on the bottom. "Morgana."

His eyes widened in shock at the name. "That box belonged to Morgana."

Sarah came in and crossed her arms, giving both of them an inquisitive look. "What the hell just happened here?" she asked, but both the other mother and son were just as confused as she was.

* * *

August 24, 2012

"Congratulations, Bradley," Angel said happily and planted a kiss on his cheek as he continued eating his pizza. "I heard you made the team." She took a seat next to Katie, across from Bradley. Georgia was sitting next to him with a book plastered to her face, as usual.

Bradley smiled shyly as he wiped the tomato sauce from his lips. "Thanks," he said.

"A step closer to that _'I will be your worst nightmare' _statement for stick mantis, huh?" Katie said, amused.

Angel frowned at both of them. "Don't tell me you're joining the team for that reason."

The blond boy and emo girl shared mischievous smiles and Angel knew then it was. "So why didn't you just join the team from the beginning? Why wait?" she asked.

"Angel, _tsk tsk_, little Angel," Katie said entertainingly and put her arms around her chocolate-colored friend. "If Bradley asked to join the team then it would've made him look desperate. So, Bradley decided to show off his athletic side during his P.E. class and-"

"They will be the ones who look desperate, making him more popular," she finished, crossing her arms with a scowl.

Bradley just kept on grinning. "It's not like we're harming her…just her pride so we can get the upper hand on helping the ones who are bullied by her and her Cheerios." **  
**

"Are you sure this won't change you?" Angel asked, look a little worried.

He could see why she was worried now. She thought he would stop being friends with her, Katie and Georgia if he became too popular. He took out his cellphone and searched through his photos and showed one to them. "This was my best friend in my old school." It was a picture of Bradley and a very, _very_ tall, lean and goofy-looking boy with blond, spiky hair and some black and white painted on his face like he was in a metal band. "His name is Tom Hopper, but we call him Cain. He's the bass guitarist in a band called The Exorcist. Imagine how the jocks treated him in school." **  
**

Both of the girls looked at him sympathetically as he put his cell phone back into his pocket. "He was the only reason I didn't want to leave Florida, but he dropped out and went on a tour with his band. He told me to leave if I felt like I didn't belong there anymore – so I did. My team was disappointed when I chose to leave – I could have stayed since I still have family there… I could have stayed until I finished school."

"Why did you come here, then?" Katie asked curiously.

Bradley didn't really know how to answer her. He just _felt_ like he should come to North Carolina, as if he needed to find something or someone. As he came to this realization, he remembered what Mrs. McGrath had said to him: _"In your former life – the one before this one, you left something or someone important behind and you are searching for them, almost desperately." _

Angel placed a hand on his shoulder, bringing him back to reality. "Bradley, are you okay?" she asked worryingly.

"Huh…uh, yeah," he said. "Just a little tired. I didn't sleep well last night." He lied.

He saw Angel and Katie exchange a look but said nothing. "Well, I have to retake a quiz in Spanish, so I will see you guys later," she said and left the cafeteria.

* * *

"_What_?!" Amber's shrill voice echoed throughout the hallway after Santiago informed her that Bradley was going to be on the football team as the wide receiver. "That's a joke, right? Please tell me that's a joke!" She cornered him to the locker with her scrunched up pretty face coming upon his. The hall was pretty empty because of the other students currently held up in class or having lunch in the cafeteria. "You're going back into Couch Mariner's office and you're going to tell him that _Bradley James_ can _not_ be on the team!"

Meanwhile, Angel was approaching her locker, which happened to be near the couple, who was now arguing. She didn't mean to eavesdrop but it was very hard not to when the witch of a cheerleader was yelling at the poor quarterback so loudly.

He rolled his eyes. "Look, babe – there's nothing that I can do. When coach makes up his mind, there's nothing anyone can do to change it. It's not my place to choose who is or who's not on the team," he explained, but it didn't change his girlfriend's mind.

Without even a warning, she slapped Santiago across the face sharply, her nails scratching his face. "You have no _dick_ to do anything!" she snickered nastily before she stormed off.

The defeated and embarrassed look on his face made Angel almost pity him. She walked over to him, pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket and handed it to him. "You're bleeding," she said, kindly.

He tried to smile but failed when he realized how painful it was to do so. He took the handkerchief Angel offered and placed it on his left cheek. "Is there any chance that you missed seeing all of that?"

She snorted. "With that loud mouth of hers, I'm pretty sure anyone would have seen and heard it. Sorry," she said, and earned a small chuckle from the very handsome quarterback. She sighed, shaking her head in disappointment. "I don't understand why you stay with her."

"Why do you say that?"

She looked at him in disbelief. "Really? She is very rude."

"She can be sweet."

She laughed. "Stick mantis – _sweet_? I don't think so, Sandy boy. I really don't know what you see in her, but a girl who doesn't respect her man doesn't deserve a good one," she said assuredly before she turned to leave.

For some reason, he didn't want her to leave and called out, "Hey! What's your name?"

She turned back to him with an appalled look. "I'm in your physics class. Maybe you will remember my name in there," she said with a smirk and continued her way down the foreign hall.

"I will return this back to you," he said, waving the handkerchief in the air.

"Keep it," she answered without turning back around.

He found himself smiling - an actual, _genuine_ smile.

* * *

**A/N: **I know...I know...I'm sorry I didn't put more Colin in the story but trust me, I have a very good reason. Just be patient with me, you will totally understand why I do what I do later. Just let everything fall in their places. I promise you won't be disappointed in this story. And please take a little of your time to review. It's always nice to know what you think of my story.


	6. Chapter 6

**Title:** I Will Still Love You Tomorrow

**Disclaimed: **Sadly, I don't own Merlin.

**Warning:** AU, BROLIN, MERTHUR, VIOLENCE, and CHARACTERS DEATH

**Special thanks to: **ScheiGuy for being the awesome beta that he is :D

**A/N:** Okay, due to the 'not allow actor/actress' mention in the story...I'm letting everyone knows that I am changing the last name of the characters but their first names will be the same. It's not so hard since I got the idea from my awesome beta that I should just switch their last name. Example: Bradley James will become Bradley Morgan and Colin Morgan will become Colin James. Same goes with Katie and Angel. Hopefully that won't confuse anyone.

**To my reviewer:**

**Sam's W.'s Wife: **Thank you and it will only going to get better so keep on reading.

**Corey Young Blood and ****Random Awkwardness : ****: **lol. I always want to write scary story so I'm glad I can pull it off. Thanks for your support and don't stop :D

**Guest: **Even if I don't know who you are, I still appreciate you take your time to write a nice reviews :D

* * *

Chapter 6

September 14, 2012

The homecoming dance was just a day away now, and practically every student was excited about it. Like before every other homecoming there was the spirit week. For Camelot High's spirit week: Monday was twin day, Tuesday was backwards day, Wednesday was pajamas day, Thursday was celebrity day, and today, Friday, was superhero day, which was why Bradley wasn't too happy to find a black, gray, and yellow spandex Batman suit laying on his bed, almost mocking him, that morning. He scrunched up his face in annoyance and glared at his mothers. "I am _not _wearing that," he said as they burst out laughing before Sarah pulled out a better-looking Batman suit, made from latex, which actually had the ridiculously-outlined 8-pack over the torso.

Sarah went over and gave Bradley a wet kiss on his cheek, still laughing as she handed the better-looking costume to him. "We were just kidding, honey."

Bradley still frowned, not taking the costume. "I am not planning to wear a costume today."

"Oh, come on! You haven't participated in the school's Spirit Week _at all_ yet," Carol said and took the costume from Sarah and practically shoved it onto her son. "Stop being a party pooper and wear this. Sarah pulled a lot of strings in order to get you this awesome one."

"I'm not a party pooper, Mom. I'm just...not really into this _spirit thing_," he complained.

Carol scowled. "I thought you were a part of the team. Why won't you show that you are?" Sarah turned curious eyes to her son.

Bradley really didn't want to tell both of his mothers that he was only joining the team to gain popularity and use it against his foes. He knew they would be disapproving of his actions and give him a very long lecture. To avoid all of that he answered, "Fine. I will wear the stupid costume."

Sarah beamed but Carol was still not letting the subject go. "Tell me, son. Why did you _really_ join the team?"

He looked at his mother nervously, his lips thinning. He couldn't believe what he was going to say next, but yet: "I wanted to impress Angel," he lied, causing Sarah to practically squeal as she hugged him again.

"I knew it! I knew it from the start that you were in love with her! Didn't I tell you, Carol?" she yelped as she began pinching Bradley's adorable little cheeks, looking at her life partner with such excitement.

Carol still looked dubious about Bradley's answer, but merely sighed, finally giving in. "You're not getting away from wearing it, though. Angel just called and asked what you're wearing because she's going as Catwoman."

Bradley groaned in defeat. He was not going to get away from dressing up as a superhero.

* * *

Bradley was stunned by how many people actually dressed up in their superhero costumes. Even that witch of a cheerleader and her Cheerios dressed up as the DC villains: girls version (which didn't surprise Bradley at all). He also found it strange that there were more school security guards than usual wandering the campus, which led him to wonder: _Why exactly do we need so many of these donut-munchers, anyway_?

While passing through the hallway towards the cafeteria, he earned a few compliments for his awesome version of Batman and met a few different versions of Batman himself. When he found the girls in their regular booth, he was awestruck at how remarkable they looked. Angel chose to dress up in Michelle Pfeiffer's version of Catwoman, Katie dressed as Harley Quinn, and Georgia as Poison Ivy, who even wore a red wig.

"You guys look...amazing," Bradley said, almost breathless, as he took a seat next to the Harley Quinn Katie. All the girls gave him a smile. "Though I'm sure you all wish me dead."

"What?" Angel asked, doesn't understand what he means.

"I'm Batman. You all are the girls in Batman who want him dead? Well, Catwoman want him dead sometimes."

"Oh~h," they all nod, understandingly.

"I can't believe you actually wore a costume," Katie stated, continuing eating her sausage and egg biscuit.

He sighed. "Yeah, well, it was either this or my mom and Sarah find out about and effectively foil my 'getting back at stick mantis' revenge plan," he said, causing Angel to frown.

"I still don't approve of this," she said, shaking her head slowly.

"What are you so mad about? You've been flirting with stick mantis' boyfriend for weeks," Katie indicted

Angel scowled. "I am not flirting with him, Katie. We're just…_partaking_ in very nice conversation." Both Katie and Bradley snorted – even Georgia look unconvinced.

"Call it whatever you want. Just don't let him get into your black leather panties," her Harley Quinn friend advised. The rest of the group nodded their heads in silent agreement.

She looked at them all in disbelief. "I am _not_ like that."

"It's not you that we don't trust, Angel. It's him," Bradley said, sounding genuinely worried. "I know guys like him and we don't want you to fall victim to that. That's all."

Angel finally smiled. "Thanks, but I can look after myself."

"No doubt," Katie agreed before taking a sip of her chocolate milk. "But we're your friends, extra eyes and ears just in case that son of a bitch just wants a piece of that perfect ass."

Angel should be offended and outright disturbed by her friend's crude statement, but she was not. "Fine, but don't call him that," she said and finally continued eating her breakfast.

Katie turned to her quiet blond friend. "So, Georgia. Who are you taking to the dance? "The question seemed to catch her off-guard and she started to spit out inaudible sputtering which made everyone feel a little sorry for asking. "Why don't you go with me?" Katie said, putting her arm around her. Bradley and Angel exchanged surprised looks but they decided not to ask questions yet, definitely not when poor Georgia was still there.

"W-what?" Georgia looked at the Harley Quinn Katie in surprise, who only smiled in return. "Why?"

Katie shrugged and looked up at Georgia through her thick, dark lashes. "I mean, unless someone else has already asked you..."

Georgia shook her head apprehensively. "No, but I don't think my mom will approve."

Katie sighed and then turned to Catwoman Angel. "What about you?"

Angel could only laugh at the suggestion but she stopped as she realized that her friend was serious. "I…uh…"

"Why don't you go with me, Katie?" Bradley jumped in to help Angel. "I mean, stick mantis hates your guts so it could really piss her off if you're the one with me."

Katie beamed happily at him. "Hell yeah! Why didn't I think of that?"

Bradley shrugged and turned to Angel who looked a little disappointed, but she mouthed a thank you to him. He mouthed you're welcome back before he stood up. "I need to turn in some forms to the coach. I'll see you guys later," he said and was about to walk away but turned back to them at the last second. "Hey, would someone mind telling me why there are so many security officers around today?"

"Oh, I forgot. You're new here," Katie thought out loud, further dumbfounding Bradley, causing him to frown. She continued, "Like every other school in this country, we've got a rival school. Essetir High's our nemesis. Every year, during their homecoming or our homecoming-"

"They pull pranks," Bradley finished, remembering clearly what he and his former football teammates would do to their rivals: things like collecting all the trash bags from the entire school and throwing them over to their rival's football field.

Both Angel and Katie nodded. "It's all fun and games..." Angel began, looking down to her lap. "...until last year that is. They went a bit overboard and threw some rocks into the school building with threatening letters tied to each. Then, during the homecoming dance, the punch was somehow spiked with liquor. So Principal Walker decided to double the security this year," Angel explained.

Katie exhaled. "So far we haven't received anything yet. No pranks, no threats…nothing."

"Which worries him even more," Bradley suggested and both of the girls nodded He sighed. "Well, then, let's hope nothing too crazy happens this year." He gave them a two-finger salute before making his way toward the P.E. hallway.

When he arrived at the gym, he realized that the lights weren't on which made the whole place dark and creepy. The coach's office was inside the weight-lifting room, where it was connected to the gym on the other side. He'd have to walk across the dark gym in order to get there. He was debating if he could just give his papers to Coach later but P.E. was cancelled due to the majority of the student body wearing costumes, and football practice was also cancelled due to the amount of rain they were having lately.

He scowled at his own foolish fear and just went inside. As he was halfway in the large gym, he heard something...some movements inside the boys' locker room. He thought he had imagined it and continued his way – _but there_, he heard it again. He looked at the door of the locker room for a few long seconds before he decided to check if there was anybody in there. "Hello? Is anyone there?" he called out as he found the light switch, but after he flipped it the light didn't come on. A tiny jolt of_ something_ ran swiftly throughout his body, causing it to shake briefly, as he could hear movements in the room. His mind was telling him to run but his pride was daring him to seek out whom or what was making that movement. As he strolled further inside he saw a shadow run across one the lockers. He squinted his eyes to focus – he saw writing on the lockers: spray-paint. Right then and there he knew that this had to be the work of their rivaling school. _Essetir._

"Hey!" Bradley's voice shot out, booming, continuously bouncing off the walls of the supposedly empty building. "I know you're in here! Come out!"

Then he heard a clanking noise as if someone was trying to get out through the small windows up high on the wall. He ran towards the sound's origin and saw two boys around his age in costumes – one dressed as the Joker, the other one as the Riddler. The Riddler was standing on one of the benches, scaling the wall and up to the window while the Joker was waiting for his friend to exit first.

Bradley sighed exasperatedly. "You've gotta be kidding me," he groaned at the irony and ran after them.

"_Shit_!" the one in Riddler costume swore.

"Go! Just _go_!" shouted the one in Joker costume as he practically pushed the Riddler through the window, and when he was about to follow him out Bradley pulled him down, taking him to the ground. He threw himself on top of the Joker, keeping him from escaping. He was immediately surprised by how strong the scrawny boy was. "Let go! Let go of me, you _clot pole_!" he screamed in frustration, thrashing about as he couldn't throw Bradley off, but it didn't stop him from trying to squirm his way out. Even so, Bradley was way too strong for him.

"I'm not letting you go, you little punk!" Bradley shouted back and tried to keep the wriggling body beneath him as still as he could. He unbuckled his belt from his pants, figuring he needed to tie the boy to something so he could go get Coach Mariner or any teacher who was nearby.

Suddenly, a surprise punch from that _little punk_ slammed right into his face before he rolled off from the punk's body. Bradley groaned aggravatingly and took off his mask – which was now cracked, scratching his left cheek. He went after the punk in the Joker costume. The boy only got as far as two or three steps before he was pushed to the ground and placed under Bradley again. Bradley straddled the boy's hips this time, holding both of the punk's wrists above his head with one of his hands as he struggled to get his belt to tie the boy up. "You're not going anywhere," he hissed in a rough voice into the boy's right ear as he rose up to tie his writhing arms, but he stopped as his sky-blue eyes suddenly met the boys' ocean-blue ones. He froze as he felt something _comfortably familiar_ seep forth from those gorgeous marbles.

"Ugh! Let me go!" The boy jerked his hips upward as he tried to throw Bradley off from him again but stopped as he realized how intensely Bradley was staring down at him.

Even with all the white foundation makeup on his skin and the red, uneven lipstick on his lips Bradley felt as if he had seen this boy before – the feeling was almost identical to the one he had when he met the boy Colin outside the library. Slowly, he reached out one of his hands to touch the boy's left cheek while the other still held the boy's wrists above his head, firmly; a shock, like a strong current of electricity, greeted his hands and traveled up to his brain, filling his body with a desperate _need_ and_ desire_. _I finally found him_. Before he could question his own actions, Bradley leaned forward, and as a possibly jarring set of words was about to form on the boy's lips, Bradley's lips were already upon his. Bradley moved his hand from the boy's cheek to grip that thin neck as his thumb traced the curve of the boy's jaw; his lips tasted the incredible sweetness of his mouth. Bradley's tongue drew lightly over the boy's lips, willing them to part, taking the risk of being bitten by the boy. He pressed harder with a whimper, pleading for a response. He never felt as desperate as he had now with anyone before that he nearly moaned as the boy finally returned the kiss instead of biting his tongue off.

The boy made a sound like a moan, and it nearly caused Bradley to come back to his senses but the boy leaned upward, catching his lips greedily, which made him vaguely wonder _why_ the boy in the Joker costume did not resist. Willing to taking another risk, Bradley's hand sliding under the boy's shirt and as he caressed the soft ivory skin up to his delectable nipple the boy inhaled sharply, which sent a very nice sensation to Bradley's groin.

Suddenly something hard like a piece of wood swatted him on the back of his head and he rolled off the boy to the ground. The last thing he heard was, "Come on, Colin! We have to go now!" came an unfamiliar dominant male voice.

"We can't leave him like this! He's _bleeding_!" answered a worried voice that Bradley assumed was from the boy. Then he lost all consciousness.

* * *

_Bradley was standing in the middle of a dirt road, surrounded by tall green trees. He didn't understand why he was there but his feet suddenly moved toward a destination unknown to him. He didn't know how long he had walked but he stopped as little brick house painted in a light shade of blue came to view. His lips parted slightly at the sight and his heart began to beat rapidly with longing. He was suddenly running toward the house, but as he was only a few feet away an invisible force barrier blocked him from coming any closer. He tried again but the force field was denying any further advancements. Staring intensely at the house, he heard himself say, "I will find you." He reached a hand up toward the house and closed his eyes. "No matter what, I will _always_ find you."_

* * *

A sterile white ceiling was what he saw when he opened his blurry eyes. He could _feel_ the longing feeling still lingering in his heart as he woke up. The feeling was so overwhelming that it hurt extremely painfully. He wondered why he dreamt of that house and why he wanted to find that house all of the sudden.

Slowly, he sat up and realized he was in a hospital. There were a few vases of flowers in the room but there was one particular vase of flowers that caught his attention. The flowers were red and peach anemone flowers with no notes. _How long have I been out? And why am I at the hospital?_ Then, the memory of his encounter with the boy in the Joker costume in the locker room came rushing back to him. He blushed as he remembered what he was doing to the hand-bonded punk before someone hit him on the head. He then realized his head was wrapped up pretty nicely. Just as he was going to go check his head in the bathroom, Carol came into the room.

She rushed to his side in worry as she realized her son was awake. "Oh my god, you're awake! How are you feeling, honey?" she asked worryingly.

Bradley smiled groggily. "Fine," his voice came out sounding a little dry. "Is my head damaged?" he asked jokingly, touching where the pain was – on the left side of his head.

Carol laughed wryly but there were some worrying tears in her eyes. Bradley felt slightly guilty and leaned forward to hug his mother. As soon as Bradley held her she started crying. He couldn't help but feel responsible for his mother's sudden disparity. He sometimes forgot that his mother didn't have any family left, except for him. Her sister, his Aunt Allina, died a few years back, and the only people that still considered Carol and Bradley as family were the in-laws from his deceased father, and of course there was her wonderful life partner, Sarah, but none of them can even come close as family to Carol as her own son.

"Hey, _hey_. I'm okay, Mom. I'm still alive and well. Don't be so overly dramatic," he said teasingly, hoping it would make her feel a little better. "Unless there was some damage to my head – more so than before, anyway."

She sniffled and pulled away from her son with a strong put-up face, a small smile gracing her lips. "No, no damage," she assured. "The doctor said your head is pretty thick."

He let out a chuckle and lay back down on the pillow. "So only minor bleeding?" She smiled and nodded as she took his hand in hers. "So…meaning I can still go to that dance?"

She looked at him in disbelief. "You still want to go to the dance? Even after what you went through?"

He frowned. "Mom, I'm fine. Even-"

"No. You are_ not_ going to the dance. The police haven't even found out who attacked you yet. I won't allow you to leave my sight until that person is found."

"_Mom_, I'm not a little kid anymore. I can take care of myself."

"No, you certainly can_not_! Look where you are right now!"

He sighed exasperatedly, crossing his arms. "Look. I was attacked because I got a little distracted. If I weren't I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be here."

Carol looked at her son curiously. "Distracted? Like what?"

He blushed as he remembered the heated moment with the boy. Then suddenly, he remembered the last thing he heard before he blacked out. The boy, his name was Colin also – the same name as the boy he ran after at the library. _Was it just a coincidence_?

"Bradley," Sarah's voice interrupted them as she came to give him a hug, still holding a few bags of snacks. "We were so worried about you." She pulled back. "It's a good thing your head is thick or else your mother would have hunted down whoever attacked you and murder him herself." She placed the bags on top of the lampstand on the side. She could sense the tension between Bradley and Carol and frowned. "Don't tell me you're not letting him go to the dance, Carol," she said as if she could read their minds.

Carol pouted. "He was attacked."

"Yes, by the students of his rival school, not by the kids of his own school. Plus, he's not going alone to the dance like he was alone in the locker room. Let him go have fun. This is his senior year after all."

"His life is more important than having fun, Sarah."

Bradley wanted to break the conflict between his two mothers but it was definitely hard to do so when they were arguing.

"Yes, but knowing you I'm pretty sure you're going to keep him in your sight from now on just because he was attacked this one time."

"I'm his mother. It's my job to protect him."

"Yes, I understand that-"

"No, I don't think you do!"

Sarah backed away looking hurt and Carol instantly regretted her choice of words. "No, I guess I don't," she said calmly and retreated from the room.

"Sarah," Carol called out and followed her life partner out. Bradley groaned and covered his eyes with his arm. It seemed he wouldn't be able to go to the dance. He'd have to call and tell Katie he can't go but now, he needed to get out of this _damned _bed and help his biological mother find his other mother. He knew how sensitive Sarah was to the subject of being a parent to him.

* * *

Carol finally caught up with Sarah outside in the front of the hospital. She grabbed her redheaded lover's arm and pulled her back. "I'm sorry, Sarah. I didn't mean to say it like that," she said.

Sarah scowled. "Then what was it supposed to mean, Carol? I know I can't _really_ be considered as a parent to Bradley but I love that boy as much as you do."

"I know, it's just…I'm…I didn't mean it…I know you love him as much as I do…" Carol stuttered with a confused and frustrated look, clearly struggling with her wording. "I'm just worried about my son."

"And I'm not?"

"Of course you are. It's just-"

"Would you two _stop_?" Bradley shouted and both of them finally realized there was a bunch of people staring at them – among them were Angel and Katie. He crossed his arms, frowning disappointedly at them. "Look. If this stupid dance is going to cause trouble between you the two of you then I'm not going. And Sarah, you know my mom can say some pretty stupid things when it comes to protecting me from the world. We've been there before, so _please_ just forgive her foul mouth and let's get back inside." As he turned to his friends, he said to Katie, "Sorry. I guess I won't be able to go."

Katie shrugged shaking her head. "It's not your fault. Maybe some other time." He nodded.

"Wait," Carol said, halting his son from leaving. "Just go to the dance." Then she glanced to Angel. "You're in love with Angel so I shouldn't stand in the way." She said before turning apologetically to Sarah and begging her for forgiveness.

Angel looked up to Bradley's disbelief face in confusion. "What?"

He slapped a hand to his face, ashamed. "I'll explain later," he whispered to Angel.

* * *

September 15, 2012

"His name is Colin and he's from Essetir High," Katie repeated what Bradley just told her as they were driving toward the school. "You caught him spray painting the boys' locker room with another friend of his. You tackled him down but someone hit you on the head…and they escaped?"

Bradley nodded. He hadn't planned on talking about the events after he told his two mothers about it but Katie and Angel persuaded him to tell them. He didn't tell his two mothers about Colin, though. He was afraid Carol might stalk every Colin in town just to know who attacked her only son. To Katie and Angel, he left out the part where he had a heated make-out session with the boy.

Angel leaned forward from the back seat of the car. "Is this the same Colin you were talking about that one time?" she asked curiously.

Bradley shrugged. "I'm not sure," he answered honestly.

She frowned. "So it could be another Colin. It's very hard to solve this without a last name. We may not know who this Colin is," she pointed out.

Katie nodded as an agreement. "Do you know what he looks like?"

He shook his head 'no'. "He wore too much makeup."

"_Too much makeup_?" both of the girls asked in a union, questioningly.

He sighed. "He was dressed up as…" He paused for a moment, reluctant to inform them. Then, he prepared himself for the inevitable ridicule. "…the Joker."

Both of the girls looked at each before bursting out laughing. "Joker and Batman, fighting in the boys' locker room. How _ironic_," laughed Katie but Bradley only frowned at their amusement.

* * *

Bradley was sitting on a chair while Angel and Katie went onto the dance floor where the DJ decided to play techno music. They were even able to force Georgia to go with them onto the dance floor a few times. Despite her shyness, she was a pretty good dancer.

As the second song began to play, Santiago walked over and sat next to him. "Hey," he said.

Bradley grinned. "_So, _your master has finally unleashed you," he said gesturing with his head towards the brunette cheerleader in a seeming-to-be bridal dress cut in half with her airhead friends.

The Venezuelan boy grimaced. "I'm not her dog."

"Then stop acting like one," Bradley pointed out.

"I can't," he said shamefully.

Bradley looked, completely confused. "Why not?"

"My parents love her."

Bradley frowned. "So you're with her…not because _you_ love her…but because your _parents_ love her?" he asked slowly, digesting that bit of information. Santiago nodded. "Dude, my parents love Angel but I'm not with her."

It was Santiago's turn to frown. "Why not? She's cute and benevolent…" An honest to goodness smile graced his dark lips at the thought of her. "One of a kind."

Bradley looked to Angel on the dance floor, having fun with her friends. She was everything a man would have wanted in a woman, but not for him apparently. Who he wants is…_Colin_. As he reminiscence about his encounter with the boy, the feeling he had when he kissed him and the skin he caressed was like nothing he had ever experienced before. Just the thought of that little meeting made Bradley want to go and search for him.

He came back to reality when the music suddenly changed to a slow dance song. His three girl friends were hugging each other and twirling slowly in a circle, which Bradley thought was a bit odd. He turned back to the Santiago and said, "Well, I know she is but I don't have those kinds of feelings for her." For a moment, he caught a glace of an expression that he often saw his biological mother have for Sarah, real true happiness, from Santiago to Angel. "But _you_ do…don't you?" he asked and the Venezuelan boy turned sharply to him.

"Santiago!" Amber called to her boyfriend with a pretty-angry expression plastered onto her face. "Come _here_!"

As Santiago stood to leave, Bradley said, "You're not her lapdog, Santiago, so stop letting her call out to you like one."

Santiago nodded, acknowledging what his blond friend told him, before he left to please his unpleasant girlfriend. Bradley saw the witch of the cheerleader scolding her Venezuelan boyfriend before he said something to her. Her face suddenly crushed up, ugly, before she stormed off. Santiago turned and gave Bradley a smile before he went to ask Angel for a dance.

Bradley couldn't help but smile himself at the beautiful turn of events. Then, his cellphone began to vibrate within his pocket, and he reached down to get it. He looked at the caller ID…but it was blocked. Usually he would ignore these sorts of calls, but for _some_ reason he answered. "Hello?"

"Hi, Bradley. I see your head is fine?" came a familiar voice.

Bradley's eyes widened in shock. "_Colin_."

* * *

**A/N: **Don't kill me. Cliffhanger is my expertise. Only at the end of each chapter though, not the story. :D Reviews! Review! Review!


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaim: **Sadly, Merlin is not mine but BBC

**Special thanks to: **SheiGuy for being the most awesome beta!

**A/N: **Who here is upset that Merlin is ending? Well, I hate BBC now for ending Merlin! T^T But I will continue to be a fan :D Anyways, for those who review, I'm very grateful and I also apologize for not replying you. I have been extra busy at my work place after my school end. I will try to update regularly but I want to apologize if I have to delay. Anyways, I WISH EVERYONE A HAPPY HOLIDAY! :) 3333

* * *

Chapter 7

September 15, 2012

Bradley's cellphone vibrated from within his pocket and he reached down to get it. He looked at the caller ID but the number had been blocked. Usually, he would ignore these calls but for _some reason_ he answered this one. "Hello?"

"Hi, Bradley. I see your head is fine," came a familiar voice.

Bradley's eyes widened in shock after recognizing that voice. "_Colin_."

He heard a gasp from the end of the receiver. "How did you know my name?" demanded the person, _Colin_.

Bradley smirked as he stood up from his seat, going towards an exit, away from the loud music. "Your friends should really use codenames when you guys are pulling pranks like that," he suggested. "You got guts for calling me after your friend nearly smashed my head in. How the hell did you get my number?"

"You weren't so innocent yourself. You were clearly attempting to rape me. And I visited you at the hospital; you should be flattered. Your cell phone was just lying around so I got your number from it."

"You enjoyed it. Admit it. Wait, was it _you_ who sent me those anemone flowers?"

"I did not enjoy it, and yes, I came with those flowers as an excuse to see you but when I got there no one was around."

"Don't lie and say that you don't like it when you moan like _that_ from a simple touch to the nipple," Bradley said teasingly. He heard a sound like a groan from the receiver and it made him smile but it faded as he could hear the music in the background was the same as the music that was playing inside the gym. "You're here, aren't you? At the dance." His attention turned back to the gym.

"Well, it's not exactly a hard place to blend in at," Colin said immodestly.

Bradley quickly sprinted back inside and ran around the crowded place as the loud music boomed around him. "Where are you?" he demanded as his eyes searched for this person – this person who he's _actually_ never seen before.

Colin chuckled mockingly. "I see you don't know what I look like."

Knowing that Colin was watching him somewhere in the crowd made Bradley even more anxious to find him. "Where are you?" he shouted through the loud music, sounding almost desperate. His heart ached at the thought of losing the boy again.

"You will never find me."

Bradley stopped where he stood, feeling lost in the crowded place as Colin said that. "I know your name and I know you're from Essetir High. I _will_ find you," Bradley stated clearly but he only received another mocking laugh from Colin, which truly aggravated him a bit. Now he was searching for anyone that was holding a cellphone.

"What makes you think that I'm from Essetir High? Just because that boring ass school is Camelot's rival school?" Colin asked confidently. "In this town there are many schools and there are even more Colin's. Good luck on finding me."

"Wait! _Wait_!" he shouted but Colin already hung up. "Damn it!" Bradley muttered under his breath in defeat but his eyes were still searching through the crowd, hoping to find any evidence of the boy. As he averted his eyes to the left he caught a raven-haired boy with his back facing him, instantly holding his attention. He didn't understand why but in his heart he knew this boy he had just spotted was Colin. He quickly attempted to squeeze through the thick dancing mob of teens, hastily, as he tried to get to the boy. His eyes never left the raven-haired boy who walked through the security guards and out the exit. When Bradley finally got out of the gym and to the parking lot, he lost sight of the boy.

* * *

September 16, 2012

"You've got to be kidding me," Angel said as Bradley told them about what had happened at the party. "So he _went_ to the hospital, _copied_ down your phone number, and _stalked_ you to the party?"

Katie and Georgia were sitting on the opposite side of the large dining table in the Pendragon's house. They were having breakfast and Bradley mentioned "it" after his two mothers left. Carol invited the girls to sleep over for the night since it was very late when they returned from the homecoming dance. She made sure the girls' room was near her and Sarah's room so Bradley wouldn't dare and try anything sneaky – though Bradley had no intention of doing so at all.

"I don't think he stalked me," Bradley said sternly, giving them a hard look before adding "I want to see him again."

They all gave him surprised looks. "Are you _crazy_?" Katie hissed in disbelief - even Georgia looked horrified by his words. "He is definitely a stalker and you want to _seek him out_?"

He frowned. "I can't explain it to you but I just _really_ want to know him."

All three girls gave him very confusing stares, but they knew he was not going to back down from figuring out the identity of this stranger named Colin. Angel sighed. "Okay, then let's try to figure this out," she said. "So far all we know is that his name is Colin and he's from Essetir High. Why don't we try to sneak in there and find out?"

Bradley shook his head. "Over the phone, he said he's not from there."

"And you believe him?" asked Katie.

He scowled. "No, not at first but then I realized something about him," he started. "When I pinned him to the ground in the locker room his body type was too skinny to be a football player."

"Then that means he isn't on the football team but why would he spray paint the locker room?" Katie asked, staring at them in uncertainty. "It doesn't make any sense."

They all nodded in agreement.

Georgia leaned back, crossing her arms. "T-then that means we a-are back to square one?"

Angel leaned forward, resting her elbows on the antiquated table. "Bradley, you mentioned something to me about what Mrs. Coulby had said to you that one time-" She paused when Bradley glared warningly at her. He clearly did not want the subject to be discussed in front the other two girls, especially Katie.

"What about my mother?" Katie asked curiously, clearly hearing her mother's name.

"Nothing," Bradley said and gave Angel a warning stare of death before she could open her big mouth and say anything else. "I'll take your consideration of forgetting about this Colin into account. It's likely he won't be contacting me anymore so there is no reason to dwell over it." He rose up from his chair. "Now, if you're finished with your breakfast, you may leave."

Katie looked as if she wanted to argue but Angel shook her head at her and she decided to be quiet. After the exchange of goodbyes, the girls left. Bradley went up to his room, and as he lay stretched out on his bed he began to wonder about Mrs. Coulby's words.

_Was there any truth to them?_

* * *

As soon as Angel drove out from the Pendragon's mansion, Katie turned to her and demanded, "What did my mother tell Bradley?" Angel glanced at her curious friend and debated if she should tell her. Bradley was clearly uncomfortable with the subject, and he is her friend... Telling Katie about it would make her feel like she had betrayed him. Katie could see that her friend was struggling in telling her the truth. "I will find out from my mother, anyways. Might as well tell me, Angel," she pointed out.

Angel sighed in defeat. "Promise you won't talk to him about it," she said and glanced to the backseat to Georgia.

"I-I won't," the stuttering blond girl said.

She turned back to her emo friend. "Not a word," she promised.

Angel turned her attention back to the road. "Your mom told him that Bradley was desperately looking for something or some_one_ he left behind in his former life."

Katie seemed unsurprised at the information. "So...you think this Colin guy is what Bradley is looking for?"

"It does look that way," she said. "Doesn't it?" She saw Georgia nod silently from the rearview mirror but Katie remained silent. "_Well_, doesn't it?"

"Yes, and I kind of figured that out anyways. I just didn't know my mother foresaw that, that's all," said Katie but Angel appeared a little confused by her words. "It's not really a puzzle, Angel. Why do you think his parents are so eager for him to find someone? Ever since meeting him we both know he looks very lost in life – even _before_ meeting Colin." Angel didn't want to admit it but it was true.

"O-only he doesn't know it h-himself," Georgia added.

"Because he doesn't want to admit it. He is very stubborn," Katie said.

"Should we help Bradley find this Colin, then?" Angel asked. "From what we all heard from him...this guy just might be the one."

Katie shrugged. "We can't really help him if he doesn't ask us to help. He might even get mad at us if we try."

All three of them nodded in unsure, disappointing agreement.

* * *

October 26, 2012

Angel and Katie's worries grew for their handsome, blond friend's health when he became overly obsessed with a faceless stranger, named Colin, who he encountered a month ago. It was not like him to be so obsessed with someone. For weeks he has made excuse after excuse to sneak around different schools, trying to find the raven-haired Colin like a madman. He didn't even ask them for help with the search.

Though, both of the girls were surprised to find that he was still largely popular – in fact, he was even more popular ever since the homecoming dance (he came to the party with three young, attractive ladies). Even _stick mantis_ wanted to date him, which would never happen of course. Furthermore, his concentration during all the football games didn't even falter as he scored more goals for the school than any of his teammates. The girls figured he was probably taking his frustration out on the games.

After the fourth school he sneaked into, to look for this mysterious Colin, Bradley finally came to the conclusion that he would probably never see the boy with the deep blue eyes again – until he received another call from him one afternoon three days ago. Sadly, Angel and Katie weren't there with him that day.

It was a regular day like any other. After football practice, Bradley stopped by his favorite fast food restaurant, Hardee, and ordered their 1/3 lbs. original thick burger and a medium fries meal with a drink. He came home to find Sarah working in the garden. That morning Sarah and Carol got into an argument about some flowers and Sarah was very upset. He tried to talk to the both of them but it hadn't ended well so he gave up. He only hoped they would realize how much they loved each other to stop the quarreling.

As was to be expected when he came home from school, Sarah was in the green house working on her indoor garden while Carol locked herself in her office, working on some paperwork concerning the important transportation of a few ancient artifacts.

Bradley went straight into his room and left the door open just in case one of his mothers needed something from him. After he finished his meal he took out his English book to do some reading when his cellphone rang. He answered without bothering to look at the ID caller. "Hello?"

"Hello, Bradley."

He jolted up from his bed at the sound of Colin's voice. "Colin," he said, trying to sound as like he couldn't care less when he was actually really happy to hear from the boy.

"I heard you've been searching for me. Any luck?"

Bradley grimaced. "I will find you no matter what."

Colin became oddly quiet.

"Is there anything else? If not, I would like to hang up now," Bradley said but he waited for a good few seconds. When he was about to hang up, Colin asked, "Do you want to meet?" Bradley gasped, _surely it's just a trick_. He should probably just hang up and get his life back to normal, but for some reason he couldn't press the end call button. "All right," he said. "Where and when?"

"The NC Transportation of Artifact Museum is having a Halloween party this Saturday. I know for sure your mother is attending. Meet me there," Colin said.

Bradley never heard his biological mother mention anything about a party, but if she did..._how did Colin know about it? Colin must have a parent who is working at the same company my mom is working at._ He didn't want to gloat about what he had just pieced together so he offered a simple "All right. I'll meet you there."

"Bye, then," he replied and hung up before Bradley could say anything.

After the phone call he went straight to Carol's office. He had to knock first and heard her giving him permission to enter. As always, she was working on something on her desk. "What is it, son? You need to borrow the car again?" she asked without even looking up.

"No, I'm here for something else," he said and she finally looked up to him with questioning eyes. "I heard your company is having a Halloween party this coming weekend. Are you attending?"

"Yes, every employee has to attend – and why are you asking?"

"Well...I was wondering if I could go, too," he said innocently – almost too innocently which made Carol nervous and suspicious.

"Why? I thought you didn't like going to these kinds of events?" she asked curiously.

He shrugged casually. "Yeah, but I have nothing to do this weekend anyway so I thought it wouldn't hurt to go. I mean, last year you talked about how the teens have a separate party downstairs so I don't have to stay at the boring one with you and Sarah, right?"

Carol grimaced and nodded. "I guess I'll have to make another room reservation at the hotel, then," she said, picking up the phone on her desk.

He looked at his mother in confusion. "Room reservation?"

"The party is in Charlotte. It's a four-hour drive and there are going to be drinks that both Sarah and I cannot refuse – so, yes, we are staying the night there before driving back," she replied and then turned her attention to whomever was on the phone. "Hello, this is Carol Morgan…Yes…yes…I would like to know if you have any more extra rooms. I would like to book another room- Thank you." She looked back up to her son who seemed to wait for her as she hung the phone up. "All right," she drawled out, "you better not back down."

He grinned happily – _definitely_ too happily, leaving his biological mother desperately confused as her son sprinted from the room.

_I'm going to meet Colin for the first time_.

Which brings it all back to the present, where Bradley is packing his little gym bag while Katie and Angel sit in the room with him. They seem to have disapproved of him of meeting the stalker but they didn't want to say anything since they knew Bradley wouldn't listen anyways. So they're just going to wait until this fluke has blown over so they could get their Bradley back.

But, Angel couldn't hold in her worries and asked, "Are you sure this is going to be a good idea?" Bradley turned to her and gave her a questioning look. "I mean, I'm just worried."

Bradley grimaced. "It's fine, Angel."

"His friends did almost smash your head in," Katie pointed out.

He groaned in annoyance. "I will be fine so would you two _stop_ worrying about me?"

"We're your friends, Bradley," Angel finally snapped, surprising both of her friends. "We are an extra set of eyes and ears for you! It's our right to care about you, isn't it?"

As Bradley looked to her he couldn't help but feel guilty all over for not noticing it before. His obsessive behavior lately was way out of the ordinary. He walked over and pulled Angel into an embrace. "I'm sorry," he apologized and gave Katie repentant looks who only smiled back at him as if she had forgiven him. "But I have to meet him. I can take care of myself," he promised.

"Are you sure?" Angel said, still not convinced.

He smiled assuredly as he pulled away from her. "Yes," he replied but both of his friends still look unsure. "Wait here," he said and went downstairs for a few minutes and came back with an oriental metal box with a lock on it. "My mother found this in the attic. I thought you two would be interested in it."

They give him a confusing look as Katie took the box. "Why would we-" She paused as she saw the name underneath of the box. "Oh my god! This box belonged to Morgana!" she shouted, sounding truly excited. The information even wiped Angel's concerned face to a surprised one.

"What could be in it?" Angel said breathlessly and Katie shook it and heard a clanking noise like metal but they couldn't really make out what it was.

Bradley grinned broadly. "I will leave that for you two to figure out," he said.

* * *

October 27, 2012

Charlotte, NC

The city was beautifully lit up when Bradley and his two mothers finally arrived to the Queen City of North Carolina. It was 6:32 PM, still pretty early to go to the party, which started at 8:00 PM. There was plenty of time to check into the grand hotel, take a shower, and get dressed. There weren't many people walking outside but Sarah informed Bradley that it was because it was still early. By 10:00 the streets will be filled with young adults coming out to hit the clubs after a hard day of work or school.

The hotel, Wiltshire, was like every other hotel he had been to, with its cream-colored walls bearing paintings of elegant-looking flowers, and large ceramic pots that held some sort of extinct-looking plant in almost every corner. After Carol checked them in she handed her son a cardkey with his room number on it: 14th floor, Room 1403. Carol told him his mothers' room was located on the 18th floor, Room 1809.

"Remember: the young adult's party is where the indoor pool's at," Carol reminded him with the raise of an eyebrow, daring him to cause some sort of trouble as there _will _be consequences if he so did, before the elevator door closed shut with a perky _ding_.

The room was simple with a wooden wardrobe in the farthest corner, a large dresser with six drawers leaning against the nearest beige wall that held up a moderately-sized flat-screen TV, a king size bed that could fit at _least_ three to four people, and a desk with the hotel menu and a telephone that rested on it. _Three guesses to where the bible's at_, Bradley thought to himself. He hadn't packed much: some sleepwear, another set of pants and a t-shirt, and his formalwear. He took out his white-collared button-up shirt, a black blazer, and black trousers. He was glad the company decided not to go with wearing Halloween costumes this year – Bradley had gotten his fill of that through Spirit Week.

He checked his cellphone every chance he got – which was _a lot_. He didn't want to miss a call from Colin, if the boy was indeed ever going to call or show up at all. The waiting made him extremely anxious – so anxious that the acts of taking a quick little shower, the blow drying of his blond hair, and even dressing seemed pretty troublesome to him. By the time he finished it was fifteen after eight – _but it's okay_. He didn't want to show up early like an over-eager idiot.

After he checked his appearance in the mirror for the second – or third…or fourth – time, he took a deep breath and went outside. He did get lost a couple of times trying to figure out where exactly the indoor pool was. By 8:32 PM he went back down to the lobby and painfully asked for directions. Apparently, the pool was on the 12th floor.

An errand boy had to help him find the place. The area was clearly _big_ with a large pool stretched straight out to the other end. There were a bunch of expensive, ideal-looking Valencia bronze chaises, and a few white couches, with outdoor tables surrounded by matching chairs. There was a bartender who served non-alcoholic drinks and servers who walked around cheerfully with giant silver plates of food and drink. Bradley was surprised to see the place undeniably crowded with people his age. There were some couches occupied, some girls coming in, shamelessly flaunting their baiting suits and putting the pool to _good_ use, and there were two groups of guys sitting by the bar "discreetly" eyeing the pool-going ladies.

Bradley tipped the errand boy and took a deep breath before pushing through the glass doors to get inside. A couple of decent-looking girls turned their heads to his sudden appearance and instantly put on their most erotic facial expressions. As usual Bradley gave them his sexiest smirk as he made his way to the bar and sat next to a shaggy, dark-haired guy with a goatee who was wearing blue swimming trunks and a white tank top. He gave Bradley a squinty stare. "I've never seen you before," he said and reached out a hand to him. "I'm Eoin Young."

Bradley smiled, took Eoin's hand and shook it. "I'm Bradley Morgan – this is the first time I'm attending something like this," he answered honestly.

"Really?" Eoin asked, voice monotone, as he gulped down whatever it was he was drinking in his cup. "It's nothing special."

"Nothing ever is when you're still underage," Bradley pointed out and Eoin nodded in agreement.

A curious glint came to his eyes as Eoin leaned forward near Bradley's ear and whispered, "Though, you don't have to wait that long if you know the right people."

"Eoin," a young boy with short dark hair and cute, overly-sized ears who looked around Bradley's age patted the older-looking teen on the shoulder. He was wearing a very nice silk white buttoned shirt, a blue vest, a black blazer and trousers. "Don't tell strangers-" the boy gave Bradley a piercing look with his ocean blue eyes that sent a startling jolt of electricity throughout his body. "About secrets, remember?" the boy finished turning back to the shaggy-haired boy.

Eoin nodded with a loopy smile. He whispered something to the boy before he walked away without saying anything else to Bradley. The young raven-haired boy took his seat. "So, what do you think?"

Bradley looked at the boy a little confused. "I'm sorry, I just got here," he answered, thinking that the boy was talking about the party.

He laughed and Bradley thought that was probably the most beautiful thing he's ever heard in his entire life. "You really are that dense, aren't you?" he asked and Bradley frowned, still not understanding. "You actually don't know who I am, huh…Bradley?"

Bradley's heart sunk as his eyes widened in surprise. "_Colin_?"

Colin smiled that dazzling smile that could only be compared to the Cheshire with his eyes glistening. "Expecting someone else?" he asked, almost triflingly.

Bradley's mouth was still open in surprise, more surprised because Colin looked _better_ than he expected, if that was possible – not that he thought Colin would look ugly since he'd never even seen the boy before. He was fascinated by Colin's interestingly gorgeous facial structure: those elegant cheekbones, that dangerously sharp chin, his pale skin, and the two red, full pouty lips. His neck was long and slender, making Bradley idly wonder what it might taste like. He shook his head to prevent his mind from wondering into a lust-filled, _glorious_ fantasy.

Colin turned and rested his arms crossed on the counter. "Okay, so what now that we've finally met? Aren't you going to try and get some information out of me about my friend who nearly smashed your head in?"

Bradley chuckled. "And if that's what I want, will you give it to me?"

"No," he said straight out, looking into Bradley's sky blue eyes with an amusing smile. "Never. So…what would you have me do to keep you from stalking us?"

"Your last name."

"I believe that's still considered stalking. I would like to decline telling you that."

The subject confused Bradley. Why was Colin so hell-bent on keeping his identity a secret from Bradley? "Then surprise me," Bradley said in a challenging tone.

Colin rubbed his chin thoughtfully before he leaned forward to the blonde's ear and whispered in a husky voice, "I will give you one night you won't forget."

"One night that I won't forget, such as…sex?" he asked curiously.

Colin laughed and shook his head. "No, of course not," he said, punching Bradley slightly on the arm—almost as if he was flirting with him. "There are things we could do without having sex."

Bradley looked at him, curious. "Like what?"

Colin gave him a mischievous smile and grabbed Bradley's hand. "Do you trust me?" he asked as he pulled Bradley toward a group of two boys and three girls.

In Bradley's head he was telling himself _No, I do not trust you_, but for some reason he couldn't help but want to see what Colin was going to do. So he nodded. As soon as he did, Colin grabbed one of the girls who was holding hands with a large muscular boy by the jaw and planted a kiss on her lips. "_Run_!" Colin shouted as soon as the girl's boyfriend cursed 'What the fuck?' and run off before anyone in the group could react to what had just happened. Bradley was as surprised as the rest of teens but he followed Colin's lead and out the party they went as the muscular boy and his friends began chasing after them. Colin ran into an open elevator and pressed the close-door button repeatedly. "Come on! _Come on_!" He gestured Bradley to hurry up.

Bradley barely squeezed through the closing door but he made it in. Colin was laughing his lungs out as Bradley was trying to catch his breath. "What was all that about?"

Colin pulled out a wallet. "Our dinner money," he said, still laughing.

Bradley realized the ID inside the wallet was the muscular teen. "How did you get that?" he asked curiously as the raven-haired boy took out the cash from the wallet before throwing it to the ground.

"Pick-pocketing is something I learned from a friend…not the one that smashed your head but the one that escaped from the window," he replied, putting the money – which seemed to be an awful lot of twenty dollar bills – into his pocket.

He scoffed. "The _Riddler_?"

Colin smirked. "Yeah, that's him," he replied, looking at the number of the elevator going down. "You ready?"

Bradley looked at him in confusion. "For what?"

_Ding!_

The door slid open just as they saw the muscular guy and his friends got down from the stairs. Colin grabbed Bradley's hand and they started running out from the hotel. The staff was yelling at them not to run but they didn't listen. Bradley didn't know his way around Charlotte but it seemed Colin had no trouble at all. With a good five minutes' chase, Colin made a sharp turn at a corner and into a dark alley, pulling Bradley along. Colin's back was flat against the wall while Bradley's front was pressed up against his as they muffled each other's mouth from making any noise with shaky hands as the muscular guy and his friends ran past them.

As they knew they were safe now, Colin turned to Bradley with a lopsided smile and Bradley just realized that their bodies were touching one and another. His heart began pounding rather fast against his chest and he never knew the meaning of butterflies in the stomach until now. Their faces were so close together that if Bradley wanted to kiss him, he could, but Colin pulled away before a move could be made. "So, for dinner, I was thinking about an Italian restaurant," he said, walking away from Bradley with his back turned towards the now restless blond.

Bradley followed Colin down the street and a few blocks away from the hotel. He hoped the boy was not leading him toward another dark alley with the intention of killing him, like in those overly-dramatic criminal TV shows. Was Colin even capable of killing? Even if he wasn't, he had friends that could _easily_ get that dirty job done. He just hoped it didn't have to come to that.

After two minutes of walking and glance-stealing, they arrived at a restaurant that was connected to a skyscraper with the name 'La Bella Luna' flickering on top of the entrance. The window was tainted gray so it was hard to see how the inside looked but the entrance's glass doors were clear. The inside was slightly dark with orange light gleaming down from the curvy tracking lighting from above the ceiling. There were booth settings by the windows and near the walls while tables with matching chairs were lined down the middle.

"Come on," Colin encouraged and entered.

Bradley followed in and a dark-skinned woman with short curly hair greeted them. She sat them down in one of the booths by the window. "Your waitress will be with you in a moment," she said before she left.

"So," Bradley started, wanting to know more about Colin. "It seems you know your way around here."

Colin looked up from the menu. "I've lived here a few years back before my parents got divorced," he answered casually.

"Really?"

He nodded with a suspiciously arched up brow at the blonde's questions. "But I don't live here anymore if that's what you're thinking."

Bradley leaned forward with both of his hands clasped together. "So, where _do_ you live then?" he asked slyly.

Colin smirked, putting down the menu. "Nice try, blondie."

He frowned. "Then tell me something about yourself."

"Well," he started, also leaning forward toward Bradley. "I'm home schooled, so you won't be able to find me in any public or private school."

A very handsome Asian waiter appeared next to their booth with a writing pad and pen ready. "Hello, Mr-" He stopped when Colin cleared his throat. Bradley quirked a brow in interest, figuring that Colin was probably a regular customer here. "I apologize, Mr_. Colin_," the waiter started again. "Can I get you gentlemen anything to drink?"

"I will have a sweet tea," Colin answered and glanced to the blonde.

Bradley smiled and said, "Water will be fine."

Like always: whenever a moving, living, breathing human being laid their eyes on Bradley Morgan, much like this waiter, the Asian man instantly gave Bradley a flirty look. "I'm Alan, by the way."

"Bradley," he introduced himself.

"So, are you doing anything tonight? I get off in an hour," Alan suggested.

Bradley quickly noticed that Colin was giving the waiter a disbelieving stare – maybe even a jealous one. "Ah, I'm sorry, but this is my date," he said apologetically as he took Colin's hand and held it. Colin looked to Bradley in pure surprise as Bradley just smiled at him.

Alan sighed, disappointed. "Well, it never hurts to ask."

Bradley nodded and the waiter left. Colin slowly pulled his hand away from Bradley's as the both of them shared a heart-warming look. Colin cleared his throat. "You didn't have to do that, you know," he said.

"You promised a night to remember. I don't wanna miss out," he said, smiling. "But your friends are in school. That's why you're here," he continued on where they both left off from their last conversation, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. Colin snorted. "Meaning that they saw me looking for you…so they must attend one of the schools I sneak into." Colin's face didn't look too amused at the predicament Bradley put him in but he knew Bradley had no intention for this to be the one and only time they get to share together.

"Why are you so obsessed with me?" Colin asked curiously.

Bradley shrugged without breaking their eye contact. "There's just something about you, Colin. I don't know what it is but I'm curious to find it out."

A corner of the raven-haired boy's lips quirked up a bit as he blushed. Bradley thought it was the most adorable sight he had ever seen. "So then, tell me about _your_self," Colin said, changing the subject.

"What's there you need to know? Seems like you know a lot about me already."

"All I know is that your parents are lesbians. Not even sure if you're adopted."

Bradley squinted questioning at Colin's statement. "Do you have something against gay people?"

Colin let out a hearty laugh. "No, of course not," he said, smiling as he placed a hand to his chest. "_I'm_ gay."

Bradley's eyes widened in surprise. "You're gay?"

"Yes," he answered casually. "Ever since I was twelve, when my friends began showing off their attraction to girl after girl, I found myself looking at the boys instead. Of course, I lost some of my friends when they found out."

"I'm sorry. Some people can be very judgmental," he said.

"Don't be. At least now I know who my friends truly are. And you? Are you hetero or homo?"

Bradley shrugged. "I don't know," he answered honestly. "It seems both but at the same time not both."

Colin nodded in understanding. "So you're an asexual."

"A _what_?"

"Asexual, meaning someone that's not attracted to any sex," Colin explained.

Bradley shook his head. "That's not true. I'm attracted to you," he blurted out.

Colin's eyes widened. "Really?"

Both of them paused as Alan came back with their drinks. "So, are you two ready to order?"

"Yes, your most popular dish here," Bradley supplied quickly, eyes never straying from Colin's.

"Make that two," Colin said before Alan could ask. He scribbled it down on his notepad before he left. "You're interested in me even when you hardly know me?"

"Well, you made a pretty good first impression when we were in the locker room," Bradley said teasingly, making Colin blush. "Not what I am talking about, but I'm glad you still think about it." He saw Colin look down, becoming shy all of a sudden, blushing in all too adorably. He couldn't help the smirk that graced his face – Colin was having some not so innocent thoughts. Bradley couldn't help it as he rose up from his seat, curled a hand around Colin's elegant neck, and pulled him into a savory, _just right _kiss.

* * *

**A/N:** I know I know...I'm evil but next chapter won't be so disappointing! And there are going to be more of Merthur soon. And remember to **REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!**


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